The research topic of this thesis is the relationship between humans and animals through the prism of ownership, i.e. non-ownership. The paper is divided into two parts that complement each other. The first part is theoretical and it aims to briefly present the development and postulates of the scientific milieu of Human Animal Studies, as well as versions of these studies that are present within the Croatian academic community. In addition, the theoretical part provides a brief historical and anthropological overview of the animal domestication phenomenon, with an emphasis on animals that are categorized as pets. The theoretical part ends with the introduction of the key concept of ownership and with the presentation of postulates and fundamental dichotomies between two opposing ideologies, anthropocentrism – its variety speciesism - and biocentrism. The second part of the thesis is practical and exploratory. The development of the legislative system in Croatia regarding the protection of animals is analyzed in detail and presented. Then, through a case study focusing on two animal shelters, the conditions and way of working in these shelters and their compatibility with the legislative framework are analyzed and interpreted. The aim is to find out if, and to what extent, the very concept of ownership affects the way abandoned or lost animals, those that belong to no one or those that belong to someone, are taken care of in the shelters. Finally, the paper considers with critical distance how much these two binary categorizations of animals, whose dichotomy lies precisely and exclusively on the concept of ownership, indicate to the broader social implications of incorporating the concept of ownership in the human-animal relationship.