pet custody - Alberta

[_sm]

I have an interesting (although probably not uncommon) situation with my ex-girlfriend and our dog.

We purchased the dog around two years ago from a breeder. The cost of the dog was $2300, of which I paid for $2000. His registration papers have both of our names on them, and I paid for all of his veterinary bills, food and training for the next year and a half we were still together.

When we first got the dog, we were living at my parents, as we had just moved home from a brief stint overseas and she had nowhere else to go. Afterwards, we lived in an apartment, which I paid all utilities, rent, groceries and pet care, while she went to school and remained unemployed.

After 2-3 months in this residence, she decided to break it off and moved out. At the time, I didn't know how to deal with the dog situation, so we verbally agreed on joint custody of him. When she left, she took all of his registration papers and original vets bills from my files without telling me. I managed to get photocopies of everything after a bit of arguing.

It has been a year since she left, during which time she has starting paying half of his vet bills and buying her own food for the dog. He is licensed to me, alone, however. It has now come to the point where I no longer want to deal with her any longer, as she has made things very difficult for me personally.

I am planning on taking the dog permanently, and from what I can tell, I am more entitled to ownership than she is, but I was hoping anyone would be able to let me know of any legal ramifications by doing so. Is there anything I need to be aware of? Someway that I could legally lose the dog? I know that she will not give up the dog civilly.

I've found many articles on the web with pet custody stories, but nothing about the outcomes of these disputes. So any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

[standing on the sidelines]

It seems to me like she is using the dog to stay connected to you. Do not let her have the dog anymore and let her take you to court for it. Keep all the bills that are in your name as evidence that you were the one who looked after the dog. Do not let her pay half the vet bills as this just strenghtens her position. The worst case is you may have to pay her for half of the intial purchase price of the dog IMHO. Do you have proof that she only paid $300 originally? That would help you out to prove that you were the one who has more claim to the dog.

[FL_Needs_To_Change]

From your post, the dog is registered to the CKC in both names but only to you with the local municipality for licensing for the purpose of local by-laws.

This is a tricky subject, I am a breeder of 15+ years and have dealt with this more often then I care to.
I understand that this can get a messy a dealing with children, NO KIDDING!
When I separated from my husband it was as difficult to deal with the ownership of the dogs as it was hammering out issues with respect to CS and access for the children.
Since the “legally binding” ownership is in both names, you would sincerely have to show that the onus for raising and caring for and paying for the associated costs came from you. And that the primary trainer was you, as some breeds are loyal to one human, maybe two people in “their pack”.
If you can demonstrate this and show she had limited association during your relationship and that the increased interactions were spite driven and not due to sincere passion for the animal, you may have a case to win physical ownership.

I wish you the best, animals cannot speak for themselves, and they cannot get OCL involved to speak for them.

[marianne]

Since the dog is registered under both names, you cannot just take the dog. It would be considered theft. I've been through this. It may come to having to go to court, unless the two of you can agree on something else. Either way, the best interest of the dog should be paramount. It may come to one owner buying the other out, since law considers the dog property.
Good luck!