DOGS & DIVORCE
Should dogs be treated as property or more like children in the messy world of divorce? WRIT TEN BY: TASHA J. KOTZ, F A M I LY A T T O R N E Y
Being a family law attorney, I often get asked, “do you have children?” And whether it’s to a client or fellow attorney, my reply often gets sneered at. I have since changed my response. “I do not have children, but I do have a dog and I believe I would fight just as hard over my dog as you are over your child.” How Family Law Treats Dogs in a Divorce Across the U.S. Under common law, dogs are property. Taking them without consent of the owner can be a criminal offense. However, under property law, a dog is no different than your everyday couch. For centuries, the law has treated pets as property and not as “people”. The Texas Supreme Court recently emphasized a legal position in a case that began with an acknowledgment that Texans love their dogs but holding that no emotional-related damages may be collected by a Plaintiff for harm to a dog. Meaning, the only damages a court can award for the killing or taking of a dog is
Under common law, dogs are property. Taking them without consent of the owner can be a criminal offense. However, under property law, a dog is no different than your everyday couch. For centuries, the law has treated pets as property and not as “people”. the retail value of the dog. “The human-animal bond, while undeniable, is uncompensable… We understand that limiting recovery to market (or actual) value seems incommensurate with the emotional harm suffered, but pet-death actions compensating for such harm, while they can certainly be legislated, are not something Texas common law should enshrine.” - Strickland v. Medlen, 397 S.W.3d 184, 198 (Texas 2013). The law is no different when it comes to divorces. Your dog is put into the same category as other marital property, gets divided with the marital assets, and no regard is given to which party has what relationship with the dog or which party may love the dog more. There is no requirement for the family court to take into account what is in the best interest of the dog when deciding where dog shall live post-divorce.
