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When a couple in Palma divorced, they had no children to consider but they did have two dogs, and it turned out that deciding who got them was just as contentious. The Balearic Islands High Court has now ruled that the animals will alternate between the two ex-partners every seven days, in what is only the second shared pet custody ruling the court has ever made.

 

The arrangement is straightforward in practice. Every Friday, whichever partner currently has the dogs must hand them over to the other for the following week. Feeding costs during each stay fall to whoever has them at the time, while vet bills and grooming are split equally down the middle.

 

What makes the ruling particularly interesting is that the dogs were officially registered in the woman's name. She argued that she had been their primary carer and had even allowed her ex-husband to visit them after the separation, though those visits had stopped because he frequently travelled abroad.

 

Despite this, the court was not persuaded that formal ownership should settle the matter. The judges concluded that the years both partners had shared with the dogs, and the bond that had developed, carried more weight than whose name appeared on the paperwork.

 

The court's reasoning was clear: the welfare of the animals comes first, and in this case shared custody was considered the arrangement most likely to serve that interest.

 

It isn't the first time the Balearic Islands court has reached this kind of decision. In an earlier case involving an unmarried couple, a dispute arose over a dog registered in the man's name. The woman successfully argued for the right to continue caring for it after the relationship ended. An initial ruling gave her one week per month, but on appeal that was extended to alternate weeks, with exchanges to take place at each party's home rather than in public.

 

Two cases, two similar outcomes. The court seems to be developing a consistent position: when both partners have a genuine bond with a pet, ownership documents alone won't determine who gets to keep them.

 

For anyone going through a separation in Spain with pets in the picture, it's a ruling worth knowing about.

 

 

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