Dog Custody ?? - What happens ? Is there such a thing ?

Sezzler

Afternoon,

I was just wondering what the procedure was for trying to secure ownership of a dog following a relationship breakdown. The dog is registered in both names of the couple together with the KC documents.
The bills have been paid by one person ( from their own bank account) and this person does 95% of the day-to-day caring for the animal ( grooming, vet visits, feeding etc).
The other person in the relationship currently has the dog ( dog is being kept by this person at an extended family members home, who is happy to have the dog) but states that the dog is theirs and they are not willing to compromise/ discuss anything


The only way I know of to try and get the dog, is to go through the Small claims court, although if the ex partner doesn't adhere to the ruling then it will need to go back through the courts to get enforced

Any advice much appreciated

krlyr

www.doglaw.co.uk would be a good place to start
Who actually purchased the dog, is it the main caregiver/bill payer? And any receipt or bank statement to prove this? That may work in their favour even if the KC registration is joint (for example, a house bought by one party would still belong to them even if something like the house insurance was a joint policy in both of a couple's names, KC registration is not proof of purchase/ownership)

The initial argument of who the dog belongs to may have to be decided by the courts, but as legally a dog is a possession I would have thought if the ruling was disobeyed you'd be able to treat it as a criminal action of theft.

19lottie82

The dog law webite reads -

In law, a dog is regarded as a 'chattel' ie. an item that is owned. In the event of a dispute on who should have custody, the Court would consider who is the dog's owner. Such a case is likely to be heard in the Small Claims Court (part of the County Court) and the claim would be for:
A declaration of ownership, and
An order for the return of the dog, and
An order for damages for wrongful retention of the dog
The Court may have regard to many factors including who bought the dog, whose name is registered with the Kennel Club and who is the one who actually looks after it. A Court may simply decide that the dog is jointly owned and in the absence of an agreement on who should have it, may order that the dog be sold and the proceeds shared. Another alternative, would be for the Court to order shared ownership, so that (for example) each party may have the dog for 6 months of the year.

Please bear in mind that in a divorce situation, ownership of the dog should be considered at the same time as the other matrimonial chattels are decided.

The Court does not have the power to order access to a dog.

markelock

it sounds like the dog is being used as a tool in an argument?

whilst going down a costly court route, perhaps some kind of mediation (i.e. people sitting down and calmly discussing the situation) would be a decent first step, if they are reasonable of course.

Sezzler

thanks for the reply. The paid 50/50 for the dog but since then only one has paid for the vets bills etc and has the receipts to prove it

Hillbilly1

Have alook at www.dogtheftaction.com

They have a specific sections for dog ownership in realtionships.

Whose name is at the vets and is he chipped? Whose name is on the chip?

Sezzler

registered in both names for chip and vet

krlyr

Chips have often tried to be used as proof of ownership and aren't accepted as such - it only proves you own the chip, not the dog.
I think it's iffy ground since the dog was purchased by both parties. If you purchased a car with a partner, yet you were the main driver and paid for repairs, MOTs, etc. the partner would still remain the partial owner of the car.
I think it could be worth contacting Trevor Cooper or other staff at Cooper & Co (the solicitors who run Doglaw) for a proper consultation as we can only take a guess at how it might go in court.