Where do dogs go in settlement

Some lawyers specialize in the area of pet custody.
By DANNA HARMAN
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
CLARKSBURG, MD. -- The hardest, trickiest part of her divorce, admits Jo Shoesmith, was figuring out what to do with Misha, Nike, Shay, Violet, Momma Kitty and Cotton -- the three dogs and three cats she and her ex-husband had adopted together in better years.
"The lead-up to the breakup was very rough. Especially for Nike, who became so nervous she would tremble and pace," says Ms. Shoesmith. "We did not want to put them though any more unnecessary stress."
The arrangement the two finally hammered out gave Shoesmith sole custody of the cats (with her former husband paying "cat support & quot;) and joint custody over the dogs. She and her ex, Martin Stephens, shuttled the mixed breeds between their homes in West Virginia and Maryland every other week and split all expenses.
When they separated in 1997, the concept of pet custody was, well, unusual. "I would tell people at the office I have to run to pick up the dogs from my ex, and I would always get a smile," Shoesmith says.
Today, however, custody arrangements between divorcing pet owners (or guardians, as many prefer to be called) are more common, and animal lovers are pressing the law to adapt itself to their new demands.
Offering classes
Dozens of law schools around the country -- including Harvard, Georgetown and Yale -- offer animal law classes that have segments on pet custody. The Animal Legal Defense Fund has filed briefs in several divorce cases, urging the judge to consider the pet's interest, and at least two law firms in California have partners who specialize in the area.
"Certainly there is a giggle factor," says David Wolfson, a corporate lawyer in New York who also takes on animal-law cases pro bono and lectures on the subject at Harvard University. "But these cases point to a larger trend: This area of the law needs to change to reflect that people do form special bonds with their pets. If someone carried around a rock and felt an attachment to it, that would not be acceptable. But a pet is different. The law needs to start changing its terms."
On the law books, pets are viewed as personal property, much as the living room chaise longue, says Wolfson. This classification leads to a certain diminution of cases such as veterinary malpractice suits, in which damage awards pertain only to the monetary value of the pet but ignore the pet's emotional value, he says.
Indeed, lengthy and often expensive custody battles are taking place across the United States to determine where Rover would be happier living.
To avoid such crises, a new Web site dedicated to the subject, www.petcustody.com (motto: "We're family too"), allows engaged couples to download pet prenuptial forms, and recommends that people get their affairs in order early.