Blending science, culture, compassion and philosophy with legal precedent, Justice Matthew F. Cooper, in his November 29, 2013 opinion in Travis v. Murray, agreed to hold a one-day, winner-take-all hearing to determine the fate of a divorcing couple’s dog, Joey, a two and a half year-old miniature dachshund.

Shannon Louise Travis and Trisha Bridget Murray were married on October 12, 2012. Before their marriage, they resided in the same Upper Manhattan apartment that they continued to occupy after the marriage. On February 6, 2011, while the parties were living together, but before they married, Ms. Travis bought Joey from a pet store. At the time of Joey’ purchase, he was a ten week-old puppy.

On June 11, 2013, defendant moved out of the marital apartment while plaintiff was away from New York on a business trip. Defendant took some furniture and personal possessions with her. She also took Joey. According to plaintiff, defendant first refused to tell her where Joey was, but then later claimed that she had lost him while walking in Central Park.

Ms. Travis filed this Supreme Court, New York County action for divorce on July 11, 2013. Two months later she made this motion requesting that Ms. Murray be directed to immediately account for Joey’s whereabouts since the date he was removed from the marital apartment, that he be returned to Ms. Travis’s “care and custody,” and that she be granted an “order of sole residential custody of her dog.” Once the motion was made, Ms. Murray revealed that Joey was never lost in Central Park, but instead was living with her mother in Freeport, Maine.

Philosophically, Justice Cooper noted:

People who love their dogs almost always love them forever. But with divorce rates at record highs, the same cannot always be said for those who marry. All too often, onetime happy spouses end up as decidedly unhappy litigants in divorce proceedings. And when those litigants own a dog, matrimonial judges are called upon more and more to decide what happens to the pet that each of the parties still loves and each of them still wants.

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