Doggie Divorce Survivors

Remember "The War of the Roses?" The Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner characters have nothing on some divorcing New York couples. These days they're not fighting over who gets the apartment, or the china. They're squaring off over who gets Fido or Fluffy. Here's Eyewitness News reporter Jeff Rossen.

As manager of a swanky doggie day care center on Manhattan's East Side, Michelle O'Connell has seen how heated things can get between divorcing couples when it comes to their pets.

Michelle O'connell, Ritzy Canine: "I had one client who gave me strict instructions not release dog to her ex-spouse."

Pet custody is becoming an increasingly hot topic in divorces, especially in New York where pets can provide a warm refuge from the cold city. But when a divorce threatens to take that four-legged friend away.. the fur can fly.

Raoul Felder, Divorce Attorney: "The trouble is, the courts don't treat pets like people but like things- like just another coffee cup."

So courts award custody of pets just like they do personal property- like the china or silver. But pet owners say that's not the way it should be done, since animals mean a lot more to people than, say, a simple place setting.

Felder: "Pets have meanings. they have a deep-bonding sense of attachment to their owner."

Many Manhattan dog owners have been through it -- one woman we met almost lost her two dogs in a divorce. But she bought them, so the judge ruled she got to keep them. And another woman had a dog when she first got engaged...

Elizabeth Morgan: "Then when we broke off the engagement it was like, 'who's dog is it?' But i have the dog now."

Not without a bitter fight- that's why animal rights experts say the law needs to change..

David Wolfson, Animal Law Expert: "What people want is to make judges, etc realize that aninmals are not the same as chairs-- they have personalities."

A few court cases have started that change, ruling animals aren't just property- but feeling beings. It's a first step for those who believe animals are people too!

(New York -WABC, March 15, 2005)

Comments

[Jason P.]

Three years later and this is now even a bigger issue..Its kind of funny actually Found a real good ezine article on the same subject

http://ezinearticles.com/?Divorce-and-Pets-in-California&id=1059250