Family Law

Five years ago, Sara Vreed got embroiled in soap-opera-style custody arrangements with her ex-boyfriend -- and they don't even have children. What was at stake were the living arrangements for their 5-year-old canine, a Shetland sheepdog named Ivo.

 "After we broke up, my ex got Ivo on the weekends," says Vreed, 31, an associate at an architecture firm in Portland, Oregon. "But it was really taxing on (the dog), and he started having a lot of behavior problems."

Things changed when Vreed's ex got his own Shetland sheepdog, Tuk, and the two pets became friendly during visits. Like children scheming to get their parents back together, the visitation led to a reconciliation, but even two cute pooches couldn't prevent a second breakup.

After round two, Vreed says the joint-custody arrangement was scratched.

"We had to split the pack and take the repercussions of whatever was going to happen," she says. "Spending time together with the dogs was not good for us."

 Vreed is one of many cohabiting pet parents who have faced a sobering problem: Who gets the dog, cat, horse or boa constrictor when the relationship ends?

That question has sparked some human catfights; pet custody disputes in divorce are a growing area of the law. In a 2006 survey of 1,600 members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a quarter said they had noticed an anecdotal uptick in pet-custody cases in the past five years.

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Please be sure to visit www.hardinglaw.com, the website for the law firm of Harding & Associates, for more information on California family law.