A Benidorm judge has refused to grant an interim joint custody order for a pet dog because the Civil Code statutes have not changed yet.
An application was lodged in April over a white Maltese dog named Bimba.
The joint-owners separated in December 2019 but an initially amicable split ended up with the man being refused access to Bimba last February.
His solicitor filed a petition on the grounds that his client was suffering ‘serious non-financial damage such is his love for Bimba’.
The judge ruled against interim joint custody because changes to the Civil Code announced in April which will allow courts to rule on pet ownership disputes have not yet become law.
The ruling added that the decision had nothing to do with the merits of the case.
Bimba’s owners agreed to an ‘out of court’ joint custody arrangement for their daughter.
The dog would go along with the girl to stay with her father on his access days before circumstances changed four months ago.
He was told that Bimba actually belonged to his ex-partner’s other daughter and that he could never take the dog again.
The court papers filed by the man’s solicitor stated that ‘his daughter cannot understand why Bimba cannot go along with her when she stays with her father’.
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