A Perspective on Animal Law in Peru

This chapter will show how the new discipline of Animal Law is developing in Peru, and how a paradigm shift is emerging with respect to companion animals. For Peru, animals are considered objects of special protection. The Civil Code considers them as movable property, while the Animal Protection and Welfare Law indicates that the condition of being sentient must be taken into account. The Political Constitution does not expressly establish protection for animals; the highest interpreter of the Constitution (the Constitutional Court), however, has already been resolving some cases on this matter. In criminal matters, the crimes of abandonment and animal cruelty were introduced and, only in 2023, the first sentence with an effective custodial sentence was issued. Abuse of domestic and wild vertebrate animals in captivity constitutes an administrative infraction.