The Attorney General of the Nation, Margarita Cabello Blanco, requested the Constitutional Court to declare the conditional enforceability of article 594 of Law 1564 of 2012, including pets in the list of non-seizable assets, in order to safeguard the free development of people’s personalities and life projects that include emotional ties with their pets.
In a concept sent to the Honorable Magistrates, the Public Ministry argued that it is disproportionate that the separation of pets from their caregivers can be ordered to guarantee compliance with an obligation, such as the payment of a bank loan, especially when with this type of measures can affect the psychological well-being of individuals.
In the same sense, the control body estimated that, although pets are personal property according to civil legislation, so is the fact that they are sentient beings that develop emotional relationships with people, which must be protected by the authorities in compliance with the Constitution.
Finally, the head of the Entity recalled that, according to jurisprudence, the “close bond that arises between the animal and the man on the occasion of their coexistence, is a positive expression” of the rights to the free development of personality and privacy, Therefore, this relationship must be protected by the State “as a means for human beings to express their autonomy.”
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