Is a dog a family member or a property?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Eggberry v. Horn et al, 2018 BCCRT 224 (CanLII):
30. This case raises the issue of the legal nature of pet ownership. Because pets become part of family life, it is tempting to consider them as family members. However, in Henderson v. Henderson, 2016 SKQB 282, the court made it clear that this was not the correct analysis. This was a case where a divorcing couple fought over custody of their two dogs. In the Henderson decision, the court held that dogs should not be considered the same as children, but rather as property.
31. The Henderson decision was recently followed in British Columbia in Brown v. Larochelle, [2017] B.C.J. No. 758. The court set out the following principles: (a) pets will not be treated in a manner such as children; (b) pets are a variant of personal property; (c) there is a legal requirement that animals (and in particular dogs and cats) be treated “humanely”.
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