Every Dog May Have Its Day—But Not in Court
By Michelle Strause I. Introduction Throughout American legal tradition, the family pet has been viewed as chattel.1 Courts have customarily treated the dog the same as the rocking chair or automobile in the context of divorce. Pets are an integral part of our individual households and pet popularity has continued to increase in our society.2 It should therefore come as no surprise that attitudes about the legal status of our four-legged friends are beginning to change as well. For a couple who love and care for their pets, splitting up is already difficult, complete with highly charged emotions; finding out their beloved companions are subject to disposal like property can be extraordinarily distressing. While Arkansas still considers pets personal property, a growing number of states are beginning to take account of animals’ interests during the divorce process.3 Michelle Strause is a family practice attorney and mediator; recently retired from litigation, she owns and operates Mediation Central.
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The Arkansas Lawyer
www.arkbar.com
II. Pets in Arkansas—The Bundle of Sticks, But No Fetch Arkansas currently makes no distinction between living and nonliving personal property in divorce litigation; family pets are allocated as any other personal property.4 Property is generally distributed based on whether it is marital or separate property.5 Generally, separate property includes property owned before marriage, purchased with nonmarital funds or acquired by gift. Marital property consists of property acquired during the marriage or property to which both spouses contribute to the purchase.6 McKinnis illustrates the strong emotions and disagreements which can surface when parties litigate the issue of ownership of a family pet. Randy and Brenda McKinnis were married for three years. During that time, two golden doodles, Max Von Doodle and Zoey Belle, were brought home about a year apart. The purchase, training, maintenance and grooming of the dogs were paid by Brenda using her premarital bank account. When divorce became inevitable and property division was discussed, the two very strongly disagreed about the dogs. According to trial testimony, both parties referred to the pets as family. When the parties moved from their home, Brenda attempted to take both dogs; when Randy realized she was taking the dogs, he emotionally confronted her and attempted to block her exit. The
