離婚裏如何決定寵物的撫養權

Courts in Alaska now treat pets more like children in divorce proceedings, should the UK legal system be doing the same?

阿拉斯加的法院在離婚訴訟中對寵物的處理方法與對待孩子相似，英國的法律體系也需要這麼做嗎？

A rarely talked about aspect of divorce is what happens to the couples who spent many years together and jointly invested in their future - be it homes, children or finances - they may also have shared the care for a pet.

在離婚中往往很少談論到關於寵物這方面的問題。一對夫婦用很多年共同投資他們的未來，包括房子、孩子還有資產，可能也包括他們共同照顧的寵物。

Under English law, pets are considered property just like cars, handbags and furniture so their welfare is not considered in the same way as for children - even though for many people they are an integral part of the family.

在英國的法律中，寵物只會像車、手提袋或者傢俱那樣被照料，所以他們不會用考慮孩子那樣的方式考慮寵物——即使他們是很多家庭不可分割的一部分。

But things are starting to change: last month Alaska enacted a law which will treat pets more like children, the state said courts now will “take into consideration the well-being of the animal” when deciding which party the pets go to.

但是事情已開始轉變：上個月阿拉斯加頒佈了法律規定寵物將更像小孩一樣被對待，規定表明法庭將“考慮寵物的幸福”來決定哪一方帶走寵物。

Their default option is to assign joint custody of the pets, like the preferred option for children.

默認的選擇是指定雙方共同監管寵物，像對待孩子時的最優選擇一樣。

Divorce lawyer Ayesha Vardag, who has represented several high-profile and wealthy clients at her family law firm Vardags, says pets can often be a source of huge emotional value and consequently conflict during divorce proceedings.

離婚律師艾莎•瓦達格在她的家庭律師事務所受理了數位富裕又有名氣客戶的訴訟，她說寵物往往會成爲情感價值爭奪和離婚訴訟衝突的來源。

“It becomes something very deep-seated and they [the parties] hang their emotions onto it,” she told The Independent. “Part of their mental state is that it is the end of their love, marriage and family life and the pets, which were such an integral part of it, acquire such a huge emotional significance.”

“它變得十分根深蒂固，而且他們（當事人）會將情感寄託在上面，”她接受《獨立報》採訪時說，“他們一部分精神狀態是源於這是他們愛情、婚姻、家庭生活和寵物的結束，是他們生活本不可或缺的一部分，因此獲得巨大的情感意義。”

A post on Reddit last year revealed a woman’s turmoil about leaving her husband partly because they shared two cats. “We have two cats that are literally the two things that I love most in the world,” she wrote. “One of them is more ‘attached’ to him and one of them is more ‘my’ cat. I would never want to separate him from ‘his’ cat because I know it’s best for both of them if they remain together but I love that stupid cat so god damn much, the thought of leaving him behind is extremely painful and distressing.”

去年在Reddit網站上有篇關於一個女人因爲他們共同養的兩隻貓而離開她的丈夫的帖子。“我們有兩隻貓，他們是我在世界上最喜歡的不可或缺的兩件事情。”她寫道，“一隻更“附加”於他，一隻更傾向於“我”。我永遠不想將他從他的貓中分離出來因爲我知道如果它們繼續在一起對它們來說是最好的選擇，但我太喜歡這隻蠢貓了，離開他的背後是極其痛苦的。”