In A First Of Its Kind, Mumbai Couple Decides On Joint Custody Of Their Canines After Divorce. This Is Kind Of Pawfect
In the words of now famous Indian matchmaker – Sima Taparia from Mumbai, “marriages are breaking like biscuits”. And considering how often I am getting invited to break-up parties than bachelorettes is pretty telling of the statistic that Sima Aunty from Indian Matchmaking went on about in one her of many episodes. Call it the declining level of tolerance or the increasing number of options, but divorces that once were the biggest haye tauba of the Indian society, are now becoming as common as they are normal.
Of course the fact that they are normalising doesn’t make it any less painful of heartbreaking, considering it doesn’t just mean splitting up partners but also in legal terms all the assets that the couple owned together. Including their dogs. Being a dog-mama I get it, they can’t be categorised into “assets” ready to be split like a house or furniture, they are our children. And so, it only makes sense for them to have a custody drawn up just as in the case of real kids. As is what we saw happening with a couple in Mumbai, who decided to share the custody of their dogs even after they split up.
A banker and his homemaker wife in Mumbai city, who were married for almost 18 years before they started hitting irreconcilable differences in their marriage, had together rescued and adopted two one-month-old Indie pups three years ago. When the time came for them to part ways, more than losing anything, what mattered most was the well-being and comfort of their fur babies, for whose sake the now estranged couple decided to etch out a custody plan that allowed both of them to remain parents of the canines, post their divorce.
Couple parts ways, but shares custody of 2 dogs in Mumbai
READ–https://t.co/2ggaNA4Agq pic.twitter.com/RDA3GJtQWx
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) August 17, 2020
Also Read : An Open Letter To My Dog Who Has Kept Me Sane During This Lockdown. I Wouldn’t Be Anywhere Without You
And honestly, that is the level of commitment that I wish to see prosper in dog parents, where they realise just how challenging a split up can be for their pups too and not just treat them like property one can sell. The format that the couple laid down had a number of interesting pointers, that went as follows –
- The husband gets the primary custody while his wife got the dogs for “a continuous period of one month” three times a year.
- She would also get “visitation rights at convenient times with prior intimation.”
- As planned, their deal could be paused and ‘either one of them could take custody of the dogs for two days during a week or during the weekends after prior intimation.’
- The pet parents are allowed to travel with the pooches, however, they need to intimate the other partner well in advance if they intend to extend their travel plans to a week or more.
- For local travel, the parent has to intimate the other two days in advance.
The banker would have their primary custody with homemaker getting them for "a continuous period of one month" thrice a year. But their plan could be paused&either "parent"could take custody of dogs, with prior intimation, for2days in a week or on weekends https://t.co/6kW92WMA1e
— LEOVSN (@LEOVSN) August 17, 2020
Raising a dog together is perhaps the quite the validation a couple needs to stay together, a smaller commitment than a child but a bigger one that a house or anything else they share. So when things go sour, it is natural to feel concerned for them. Some would even say that the two would then have a bone to pick (pun intended). But this couple’s unique way to respect and care for their children like dogs has reinstated our faith in humanity. Especially since we too wouldn’t have it any other way. God forbid I ever split up with someone I have raised a dog with, I would probably hire the best lawyer to get me the (joint) custody of my pupper.
This proposal and clause in their divorce was in fact proof that we might be evolving as a society not just when it comes to peacefully parting ways, but also to be compassionate enough to minimise the damage for all the other parties involved.
