Spain will consider a pet’s welfare when couples divorce or break-up from Wednesday in a legal shift that strengthens the case for couples obtaining shared custody of their animals.
Summary
- Madrid, Spain Spain will consider a pet’s welfare when couples divorce or break-up from Wednesday in a legal shift that strengthens the case for couples obtaining shared custody of their animals.
- The decision follows similar moves in France and Portugal and obliges judges to consider pets as sentient beings rather than objects owned by one or the other partner, a trend that was already underway before the law was passed.
- In October, a Madrid judge gave joint custody of a dog to an unmarried couple who sought a court ruling on whom the pet should stay with after they separated.
- The dog spends a month with each of them and both are legally responsible.
- Garcia, whose Rights&Animals firm handled the case, considers the reform a major first step in a series of forthcoming legal changes governing people’s relationship with animals.