According to a survey by the American Marriage Academy, lawsuits against custody of pets have increased by 27% over the past five years. Twenty percent of divorced couples said the judge classified the pet as an asset at the time of the divorce case.
It is not just dogs or cats that divorced couples over custody. Turtles, pythons, African parrots, and iguanas are also many.
Bidding war
In Illinois, USA, from 1 January 2018, the pet will be treated as property and custody litigation will be handled. In the middle of a dog, it is not happening now that husbands and wives call each other's names and the cow that the dog approaches first gets custody. But the judge will make judgments in a variety of ways as King Solomon made wise judgments against two women fighting over their babies.
Michael Kick, a judge in Kansas County, Illinois, presented his bid to divorced couples who wanted to own a puppy. The dog's bid price was $ 1,500 (about 163,000 won). When a new law is enacted, the judge makes a decision based on which person is better able to take care of the welfare of the pet.
If one of your spouses relinquishes custody of a pet, you may naturally have custody of another spouse. Most divorced couples think that pets can stay well after their divorce. However, the collapse of family structure has a very negative impact on pets.
Prenuptial agreement
Even for pets, divorce from their owners is very difficult to accept. Julie Boo, of the Cankakey County Animal Welfare Association, said that couples can pre-form a prenuptial agreement to protect their pets. In other words, who will manage the pets and who pays the cost of animal hospitals, etc. If you set a person who is responsible for your pet in advance, it will help the judge decide when to get a pet when the couple gets divorced.
A Florida District Court ruled that her husband had custody of Lodi in a couple's divorce case when he heard that her husband had been raising her husband since her marriage. My wife was able to visit Lodi on a regular basis. Soon after, the wife filed a lawsuit that her husband did not allow her visit. But the court heard her husband's hand saying that the puppy is now a private property of her husband and that there is no compulsion.
The court also added that if a couple divorces, one lives originally at home and leaves one of the directors, custody is given to the person who originally lives at home for the life of the pet.
Large-scale pet industry
Sixty-three percent of American families own pets. That is, the pet industry is a huge market. As a result, pet problems in divorced families were also raised. The number of dogs raised by Americans is 44 million, and owners are expected to spend $ 41 billion on dogs in 2017.
There was also a fund to protect the animals' legal defense. Joyce Tisler, director of litigation at the Animal Advocacy Fund, regularly visits the court in connection with divorced couples pet custody matters.
Experts at the Animal Protection Association said pets can show mental and behavioral problems after their owners' divorce. Symptoms include depression, increased sleeping time, decreased appetite, decreased attention and activity.
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Other animal-related legislation
Alaska already has legislation on animal custody. According to the bill, animals are defined as vertebrates, not humans. Rhode Island State Assemblyman Charlynn Lima set a similar bill last November with Alaska as an example.
She said many people were abusing the animals they were raised as pet custody. The stress of divorce is solved to the pet and the emotion is erupted.
Jeff Pierce of the Animal Advocacy Fund said that although pets are considered private property, there are also laws that prohibit animal cruelty and that the legal system should treat the pets of divorced families.
