The divorce court judge was frustrated. The husband, in tears. The wife, adamant. The couple’s love for each other had ended, but each professed to love and want the dog. How would the judge decide?
The husband offered thousands of dollars to his soon-to-be-ex for the pit bull terrier mix named Sweet Pea. The wife wouldn’t accept the compensation, and insisted the dog was hers — a gift, in fact, from her husband.
“This was a mutt they got at the pound, and it wasn’t worth money,” said family attorney Erin Levine of Oakland, California, who represented the husband and said the judge gave her grief for not settling the dispute out of court in the 2015 case. “There was no way we weren’t going to litigate this; they were so attached to the dog.”
The woman produced a greeting card from her husband saying “This [dog] is your gift for Christmas. I love you.” Finally, the judge gave her custody of Sweet Pea. Her husband, Levine remembered in an interview, was inconsolable.
It’s that kind of messy pet custody case that a new California law is supposed to help solve. Former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, owner of two “first dogs,” corgi mix Lucy and bordoodle Cali, signed the bill, which took effect Jan. 1. It outlines criteria judges can use to determine what’s best for the dog.
The law allows people to petition for custody of a pet. It empowers judges to take into consideration the care of the pet when determining sole or joint ownership. Questions like “who walked the dog?” and “who took the cat to vet appointments?” are now permissible criteria for determining custody.
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4 comments:
So much For "It's A Man's Best Friend " !
Year or two back a major University did a study on this.And given an ultimatum on your spouse or the dog,over 50% chose the
the Dog!
Say it isn't so. What about visitation rights the same as for children.
On my weekends with the dog that my ex would have custody of, I would train the dog to "attack" the hand that feeds it. Pets (any animals) are property, pure and simple. They have a dollar value, that's all. Only in freaking California, by Moonbeam Brown.
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