Pets Are Becoming People, Legally Speaking

Dog and cat ownership has quadrupled since the 1960s, and our pet expenditures have more than doubled since 2000. As more and more cats and dogs (150 million in the United States) have licked and purred their way into our lives, they've also worked their way into the legal system. Pets have become the subject of legislation and court battles, and in some cases even have their own legal representation. "As pets have become family in our homes," writes David Grimm in his eye-opening new book, Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs, "they've also become family in the eyes of the law." National Geographic talked to Grimm about whether pets are property or (legally) people.