A legal expert on animals says, “It’s a grey area.” During the pandemic, there have been more custody fights
Who gets the pet when they split up?
It can be a fight during a breakup, but judges in British Columbia may soon change how they handle these kinds of disputes.
Attorney General Niki Sharma made changes to the province’s Family Law Act on Monday. These changes tell judges what to think about when deciding custody, such as each person’s ability and willingness to care for a pet, the relationship a child has with the animal, and the risk of family violence or threat of cruelty.
“We know that people all over the province love their pets very much,” Sharma said.
“The changes make it easier for people to figure out how to share time with the family pet on their own or, if they can’t, to get a judge’s order.”
It’s a change from how animals have been treated in divorce cases in Canada in the past, when they were treated like any other type of property.
‘Kind of a grey area
Call it “purr-fect legislation” or a “looming cat-astrophe,” but those who have dealt with the issue for decades don’t find the new law funny.
Victoria Shroff, a lawyer who has worked on animal disputes for 23 years, said, “It’s a big step forward because it addresses the idea that animals are family members and not just furniture.”
Shroff says that there have been more fights over who gets to keep an animal in the past few years, and judges haven’t been given much advice on how to handle what can be very emotional arguments.
As a result, different judges and tribunals have taken different approaches in a variety of cases that have attracted media attention.
Shroff said, “It’s been kind of a gray area.”
“There’s a disconnect between how at home animals are family and how in court they’re property… It’s time we looked at an animal as more than a thing and more as a person, a sentient being, a member of our family.