After Castaño and his former spouse Lina Maria Ochoa cut up in 2021, Castaño’s uncommon visits with Simona left him satisfied that the pup was “emotionally affected” each time their encounters got here to an finish, court records state. But Castaño’s ex-wife was not keen to permit preset, assured visits.
What may Castaño do to see Simona extra typically? He opted to take the matter to court docket, the place judges dominated in October that the canine must be legally thought of “his daughter” and handled as such in divorce proceedings — the primary such ruling in Colombia.
Last 12 months, Castaño sued his former spouse, demanding scheduled visits with the pooch. Castaño alleged that Simona was a part of the “family’s nucleus,” and that each he and the canine had been adversely affected following the divorce as a result of his former spouse didn’t grant him frequent visits, the lawsuit states.
What began as a lawsuit demanding an everyday schedule of visits with Simona become an even bigger authorized query for the Colombian court docket: Was the canine like another member of a household, like a toddler, whose dad and mom shared custody after separating?
The Bogotá Superior Court dominated that Simona the canine had certainly been an official member of the “multispecies” household earlier than the divorce tore it asunder.
That meant Castaño was entitled to scheduled visits with Simona, a dwelling creature with emotions who additionally suffered after the wedding ended, the court docket dominated.
Before 2016, to the eyes of the court docket, animals had been thought of “furniture things,” a authorized time period that means objects that people may transport wherever they wished. But a ruling that 12 months determined that animals will not be objects. They’re dwelling beings with emotions.
The court docket additionally dominated in 2016 that people should defend animals from ache and be liable for their well-being by treating them when sick and avoiding placing them in circumstances that would trigger them worry or stress. This final half, the judges evaluating Castaño’s lawsuit stated, was a consider contemplating how Castaño’s separation from Simona impacted the animal’s well-being.
It’s the primary time a Colombian court docket has dominated that an animal will be thought of a member of the household if it’s handled as such by its homeowners. But Colombia just isn’t the one nation on the chopping fringe of this authorized matter, in accordance with ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America.
“Latin American legal systems are at the forefront of considering animals as family members,” in accordance with the net journal. “In a global recent attitudinal change toward animals in western societies, today, many people recognize themselves as part of a multispecies family.”
In 2018, as an illustration, a Peruvian court docket dominated that Petunia, a 3-year-old pig, was a member of 1 household within the nation’s central highlands area of Junín after the municipal authorities stated the pig was a public well being danger and ordered her household to switch her to a farm, in accordance with ReVista.
As for Simona, a household decide should now rule the precise visiting schedule for Castaño and the pup, “his daughter,” the lawsuit states.
