NABR Animal Law §ection - Custody Disputes

Who gets the family pet following a divorce? In most cases, pets are treated just like all other marital property because pets are considered personal property under state property laws. However, this traditional view is beginning to be challenged. Lawsuits are being filed challenging the longstanding view of the treatment of pets in divorce proceedings. Often, the spouse who did not receive the family pet as part of the divorce settlement, is seeking "visitation" or "custody" rights. Most courts are continuing to treat pets as personal property. Therefore, state legislation to establish new rights with respect to treatment of family pets in divorce proceedings is likely to become more common in the near future.

Case Law

State Statutes

Pending Legislation

NEWS ARTICLES

The Furry, 4-Legged Centerpiece of a Custody Battle in Court
New York Times, December 15, 2005 - Justice Diamond has ruled that the 48-hour clock should not be started until a lost pet has been listed in a city registry of lost animals. The 1894 law, called the New York City Dog License Law, says that a pet owner's right to reclaim a lost pet is terminated if the animal is not claimed within 48 hours of being seized by an authorized city agency.
Read the article

Divorced, they're divvying up the dog
Visitation ruling is new here, but a growing trend
Poughkeepsie Journal, July 1, 2005 - A burgeoning trend is giving family pets a new legal standing as pet owners argue for the emotional ties that bind them to their dogs, cats and other animals, animal law experts said. "We're seeing it a lot," said lawyer Ron Blumberg, whose California firm handles pet custody cases. The California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund has filed numerous court briefs in such cases asking judges to consider the animals in question as more than property. [This article has been moved to the paper's archival systems and is dated July 1, 2005. You must purchase the article to be able to access it.]

To Love, Honor and Belly-Scratch
Los Angeles Times Magazine, January 9, 2005
In a vet's office in Brentwood, a wife sits with her divorce lawyer and her husband sits with his, both of them waiting in opposite corners of the room for a Pomeranian we'll call Lemons, the pet they bought together when they were happily married. Today, now split, they're here to settle who gets Lemons. Her case is that she fed the dog, but he insists he walked it. As with most everything else in this marital meltdown, the dog has become a bone of contention. Read the article (payment required to view full article.)

Exes play tug-of-war for pets
The Seattle Times, August 29, 2004
While shared custody of children is a situation familiar to thousands of divorced parents, it's also becoming far more common to pet owners who split up.
Read the article (pdf)

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Animal Cruelty
Ownership v. Guardianship
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Pet Custody Disputes
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