Divorces can be a complicated process, with both parties fighting over custody of the children, ownership of the home, and rights to alimony money. Anyone who has ever met an obsessed pet owner knows that she will fight tooth and nail to keep her beloved Fido or Mittens. So when it comes to divorce and pets, court battles can get pretty heated and vitriolic. Neither party wants to give up the pet they love, so the divorce may hinge on who gets to keep the animal.

While the dog or cat (or snake or bird, etc.) may be a bona fide member of the family in the eyes of their owners, in the eyes of the law, they are pieces of property. While many couples like to argue over who will be better able to keep the dog and who will provide emotional security, the courts don’t really care and view such grandstanding as unnecessary theatrics.

However, a case in Gloucester County in Pennsylvania may be rewriting the way courts treat pets in divorce cases. Doreen Houseman went to court a second time over “custody” of six-year-old dog Dexter that she and her ex-husband had together. She said that she broke an oral contract promising him ownership of the dog and that she now keeps the pet as a form of emotional abuse.

The thrust of Houseman’s argument is that the court is being discriminatory when it treats his beloved Dexter as just another possession. She argues that the judge should consider what is best for the dog, and she and a group of animal defense attorneys want to use the Michael Vick case as a precedent. The credibility the court is giving the argument suggests that the longstanding practice of treating pets as nothing more than items to be given to one party or another may be changing.

However, until that day comes, you will have to come to some sort of agreement with your soon-to-be ex about who gets custody of the animal. It can be difficult to decide who gets Rover, but it’s an important decision you’ll have to make eventually, and the sooner you come to an agreement on it, the better.

For more information on the divorce process and pet custody, visit kleinattorneys.com.