PET CUSTODY

PET CUSTODY

A significant percentage of our cases involve pet custody disputes. These could be between former spouses, romantic partners, roommates, friends. We have seen pets left with a friend for a period of time and then the friend refuses to return it. We have many intra-family cases where a mother and daughter, brothers, an aunt and niece and even a grandmother and grandson cannot agree about ownership and custody of the pet dog or cat.

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Our first priority is to see if the parties can resolve these issues themselves. That is often preferable, and in many cases is how parties first attempt to share custody. We can assist in drafting visitation agreements or even joint custody contracts spelling out everyone’s rights and obligations. Just as often, however, circumstances change, misunderstandings develop, animosity arises, and one party simply stops honoring the sharing agreement, whether or not that agreement was in writing. Then, the courts become involved.

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When we have to go to court our clients benefit from our experiences in prior cases. Each case is different and we focus on the “when.” “When” did this once jointly-owned pet become yours? Or, when did it become theirs? Courts often struggle to identify the most important factual and legal issues involved; our experience helps guide the court’s understanding. For instance, while pets have a technical legal status as personal property, we can argue for consideration about what is in the best interests of the dog or cat. Many other factors about the parties play a role – the ownership, registration, veterinary care, training and companionship history; the parties respective living situations; work schedules, resources, experience. There are dozens of ways to argue pet custody cases because there are hundreds of ways to show indicators of ownership. Often our goal is to break through walls of resistance, whether those walls are put up by the court, other lawyers, the parties or family members. We advocate tirelessly for our client’s rights, and always seek to build better arguments from prior experience.One of the most rewarding moments as lawyers at Boston Dog Lawyers is when we recover a pet for our client after they were told they’d never see him or her again. These cases always involve significant effort and advocacy, but BDL answers the call to meet our client’s most urgent needs involving their beloved pets.