Many people love their pets and treat them like family members.
The Spanish government has now enshrined this status in law.
Pets are therefore considered to be "living, sentient beings".
In the event of a divorce, this means: spouses must find a solution in the interests of animal welfare.
Spain is paving the way for shared custody of dogs, cats and hamsters.
Judges should in future link their decisions to the welfare of the animal.
For example, the interchangeable model is possible.
Only if one of the partners is known to have been mistreated for an animal can he be forbidden by a court of law.
Up until now, pets had “thing” status in Spain.
In the case of divorce, dogs and cats were treated in the same way as the dining table or reading lamp.
When spouses quarreled in court, judges only considered financial value.
Whoever was not awarded the animal was not entitled to continue spending time with it.
In Germany, the legal situation is similar to that in Spain before the new law came into force.
In the event of a divorce, animals are part of the household effects.
"Household items that belong together to the spouses are distributed between them according to the principles of equity," says the Civil Code.
Because a dog is difficult to share, divorced pets that have been decommissioned often end up in the animal shelter.