When it comes courts making decisions about dog parenting in divorce proceedings, they typically treat pets as “property.”
However, a new ruling in Spain may pave the way for courts to grant dog custody much like child custody. The court decided that the couple needed to share their dog, rather than granting full ownership to either party.
Key to the decision was convincing the court that the couple did not just have status as co-owners. Rather, they had a duty of shared responsibility and care to the pet.
Co-Responsibility Over Co-Property
According to a report from Newsweek, a lawyer from the Law & Animals firm, Lola García, fought for joint custody of Panda — not an actual Panda, mind you, but a dog named Panda — in the parents’ divorce proceeding, something largely unheard of or rarely fought for in the first place.
In order to do this, García told The Washington Post, that she cited the 1987 European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals to solidify the argument.
“What is novel is to be able to use the convention to avoid having to define the pet as a shared thing or property and instead to focus on the animal’s welfare, the emotional bond and the shared responsibility of taking care of an animal, beyond the pet being considered a property,” García told The Post.
Petitioning the court to view Panda as a “co-responsibility” and her client as a “co-carer” instead of a “co-owner” was the key, she relayed to the BBC.
The court just finalized the lawsuit, originally filed over a year ago, this past week. As a result, the pet parents will divide time equally with the pup, as well as veterinary expenses.
Would A US Court Make Such A Ruling?
Yet another reason to be a proud Spanish resident. Legally dogs are seen here as beings, not objects.
Spain grants joint custody of dog in rare ruling https://t.co/Pn3Y6BWkh3@El_Fred_O pic.twitter.com/NHTqqJc6SW
— Stu McLellan (@_stuMc) October 27, 2021
In the US, courts make many of these kinds of decisions at the state level. A few states do have formal laws that merely ask courts to consider animal welfare in divorce proceedings, but not much more than that.
Cristina Stella, the Managing Attorney at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, told Newsweek that they “applaud” this court ruling. She further stated that “companion animals are independent members of our families, not mere property.”
“The Animal Legal Defense Fund routinely advocates for similar court decisions in divorce cases in the United States and also for state laws, like New York’s, that require courts to consider animals’ interests in awarding custody,” Stella says.
“These laws properly recognize that animals are their own beings with their own interests, which deserve full consideration during relationship dissolutions.”
The Laws In New York & Alaska
Governor Kathy Hochul just signed the New York law that Stella referenced this past week.
“For many families, pets are the equivalent of children and must be granted more consideration by courts to ensure that they will be properly cared for after a divorce,” voiced the lawmakers championing the bill in New York, which Spectrum News reported earlier this year.
A similar law already exists in Alaska, which was the first state to enact this kind of law. With New York’s new ruling, it is now one of two. Perhaps more states will follow their example in the future.
If you’d like to see laws that protect pet welfare in your state, then consider contacting your local representatives. You can also check out the Animal Legal Defense Fund and join their efforts to provide a legal voice for animals across the US.
Would you like to see similar divorce court rulings for pets in the United States? Have you ever shared custody of a pet with someone? Let us know the challenges of that in the comments below.
