About the Custodian Alliance

The Custodian Alliance is composed of organisations and individuals who support the Custodian Rule:

A Custodian is someone who is responsible TO and FOR a domestic animal. A Custodian has all the rights of ownership except one – he or she may not act against the interests of the animal. This means that if the animal is healthy, the practice of euthanasia is not permitted unless there are no other options and the animal’s quality of life will suffer to such an extent that death is preferable. Should death be preferable, a process of bringing an end to the animal’s life should consider both the emotional and physical needs of the animal until they have passed, to make their end as comfortable as possible.

The Custodian Rule combines the role of the guardian and the nurturer in one. The problem with ‘Ownership’ is that the animal is merely a commodity, and extension of the human identity, having no identity of its own. The ‘Guardian’ is responsible for protection but not nurturing. In both these ideas there is no active investment in the animal herself, while in the case of the Custodian Rule, investment is a necessary condition.