France Retires the Animal-as-Furniture Law

On January 28, 2015, the French National Assembly voted to amend the Civil Code so animals were no longer classified as "movable property," a category the code had used since 1804. The new Article 515-14 declared animals "living beings gifted with sentience," bringing civil law into line with the penal and rural codes, which had recognized animal sentience for years already. The change followed more than a year of debate, including pushback from France's main farm lobby over what it might mean for livestock agriculture. In practice animals stayed subject to the same legal regime as goods except where protective laws applied, so the win was more symbolic than operational, but it retired wording that had made a dog, a cat, and a table legally the same kind of thing.