Rudy is a 9-year-old German shorthaired pointer with a regal personality and loving owners who are divorced. The humans in his life agreed to a shared-custody arrangement.
It was an informal deal, worked out with no help from a divorce court. During the breakup, however, Christina Trinchero and her ex-husband brought up Rudy with their lawyers.
“Both of them said, ‘Sorry, we can’t help you with that. You have to figure it out on your own,’ ” she said.
Almost 80 million U.S. households, or roughly two-thirds, own a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association. For every five U.S. couples who get married, two get divorced. When Americans increasingly are delaying having children, who gets custody of the pets can be one of the most crucial matters raised in a divorce. And courts have little to say on the issue.
Traditionally, the law sees pets as property, no different from a couch or a house plant. That can feel bizarre to owners, given that the average dog or cat has no market value, and can cost thousands of dollars to feed, walk and keep healthy. But emotional attachment can turn a pet into a bargaining chip.
Judges have a lot of discretion in dividing property. Claims can be strengthened if you can prove that you used your own money — earned before the marriage — to buy the pet or pay for its veterinary care, said Natalie Reeves, a New York-based divorce lawyer at the firm ToniAnn Grande and an expert on animal law. Judges are also increasingly considering other factors when splitting up pet-owning couples, such as the best interests of the pets or the families who love them.
Judges have so far rejected ordering joint custody arrangements for pets. They also refuse to hold custody hearings for pets as they do for human children.
