Without a doubt (or surprise) our posts about animals are always the most popular!
The Australian Business Review recently reported a Queensland case where a party had his claim for “shared custody” of a dog thrown out after the breakdown of his 18 month marriage.
The Judge in that case confirmed that ‘custody’ (we assume this is a colloquialism adopted by the paper as there is no concept of custody in the Family Law Act) cannot be made for a pet.
“The Court is aware that for many people pets are regarded as members of the family. However there is no provision under the Family Law Act and no specific legislation that deals with issues such as the custody of a pet, whether that be a dog, cat, lizard, bird, fish or any of the wonderful creatures that we share the planet with, that would empower a Court to make Orders for shared custody”, Judge Tonkin said.
Issues of registration, financial contribution and emotional distress were all raised in the proceedings. The Judge determined that legal authority is established that dogs are regarded as personal property. This decision does not of course mean that parties cannot reach an agreement as to the sharing of their much loved fur baby.
It seems this is one area in which the Family Law Act could do with an update!
Photo by Arjan Stalpers on Unsplash
