According to the Daily Mail on Saturday and a survey by the Kennel Club, more than 700 dogs will be ending up in rescue centres this month as a result of couples splitting up.
This statement surprises me as in my experience, most individuals fight tooth and nail to keep hold of the dog. They are often prepared to spend large amounts of money in legal fees and I have been asked for help in setting up “residence and contact arrangements”.
For many couples without children, they become surrogate children and where the dog has been in the family for any length of time, individuals are prepared to take matters to the court.
The problem is that the law doesn’t distinguish between a dog, a car or a coffee table. It will look at ownership and registration details when making decisions, but will encourage couples at all stages of the process to try to resolve matters outside of court, perhaps through mediation.
I should also mention that it is not just dogs that are fought over but family pets in general.
It must be the time of year as I have recalled writing about the same subject around this time last year that I wrote about my Springer spaniel, who I am pleased to say is still defying vets and costing us a fortune as she enters her 14th year!
Mark Sage Blogs 