“Although pets are often viewed by people as members of their family, in law they are personal property much like other chattels, even when purchased during the course of a relationship. In that regard, they are an indivisible piece of property. The relevant question is ownership, not who wants the dog more or who has more love and affection for the dog, or even who would be the best owner: Brown v. Larochelle, 2017 BCPC 115 (“Brown”), at para. 16; Henderson v. Henderson, 2016 SKQB 282 at paras. 23, 40; Warnica v. Gering, 2004 CanLII 50065 (“Warnica”), at para. 28, aff’d 2005 CanLII 30838, at para. 6.
The court has authority to determine ownership and to provide compensation for harm to property interests: King v. Mann, 2020 ONSC 108 (“King”), at para. 19. The court has no general discretion to redistribute property or alter ownership, but as with other kinds of property there may be issues as to whether a particular piece of property was made a gift or whether it is held in trust for another party, by way of constructive or resulting trust: King, at para. 20.
The traditional approach to determining who owns the dog focuses primarily on who purchased and paid for the dog and whether there are any discrete transactions where ownership changed: Baker v. Hamina, 2018 NLCA 15 (“Baker”), at para. 11; Warnica; Brown, at para. 16.
In the recent case Coates v. Dickson, 2021 ONSC 992, at para. 8, the court took a broader approach to ownership than who purchased the dog, and held that the court should take into account the following when determining the ownership of a dog:
a. Whether the animal was owned or possessed by one of the people before the relationship began;
b. Any express or implied agreement as to ownership, made either at the time the animal was acquired or after;
c. The nature of the relationship between the people contesting ownership at the time the animal was first acquired;
d. Who purchased and/or raised the animal;
e. Who exercised care and control of the animal;
f. Who bore the burden of the care and comfort of the animal;
g. Who paid for the expenses related to the animal’s upkeep;
h. Whether at any point the animal was gifted by the original owner to the other person;
i. What happened to the animal after the relationship between the litigants changed; and
j. Any other indicia of ownership, or evidence of agreement relevant to who has or should have the ownership of the animal.”