Expert: Michael Troy - 12/4/2006

Question
Big problem is that the Judge let her (my wife) out of the lawsuit I brought against her, the vet and the rescue group. My wife’s attorney is arguing that she has an interest in the dogs and they increased in value during out marriage due to their bread ability. They are claiming some right to the dogs even though she signed her all her rights over to the veterinary clinic. Her attorney said we would need to wait a year until we can decide who the dogs belong too.  The other thing is that the dogs have no monetary value now because they all have been sterilized due to her giving them to rescue. The whole thing is a huge mess, at this point I have NO faith in the judicial system and I feel like I have NO RIGHTS at all here.

The constitution part is that I HAVE NOT BEEN GIVING THE CHANCE TO TELL MY SIDE OF THE STORY HERE. THESE ATORNEYS ARE BLOCKING ME FROM TELLING MY SIDE OR MAKING ME WAIT A YEAR TO DO SO. MY PROPERTY HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM ME AND THEE PEOPLE THAT TOOK IT AND IS KEEPING IT ARE REFUSING TO RETURN IT.

Virginia considers dogs as personal property, much like a chair or a sofa or a car. So what Virginia is telling me is that if you aren’t taking care of your car, if you don’t change the oil or wash it then I have the right to take it from you, and give it to someone that I think would take better care of it?

This whole thing is wrong wrong wrong and the legal system is failing me here.

Nick DeJohn
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
While I was in the hospital last July I had family and friends taking care of my home & dogs in my absence. My estranged wife came onto my property and removed the dogs. I purchased and owned the dogs more that a year prior to our mirage. She gave them to the veterinary clinic where I had been taking them since they where pups. Upon my release from the hospital I went looking for my dogs I checked with my vet and he denied any knowledge of the dogs whereabouts and said they didn’t take custody of them. I later found out they where lying and in fact took the dogs and turned them over toe a Dog rescue group whom intern gave them to another rescue group and they adopted them to new homes. I have since had my attorney contact the group and they refuse to return my dogs. They will not return my dogs because my estranged wife told them that I abandoned them (while I was in the hospital) and I had a history of abusing them. I do have a copy of a contract that she signed that was provided by the vet stating that she was the owner of the dogs and that she was relinquishing custody of HER pets with the understanding that she would have no say-so as to where they went, who adopted them or if they where split up.

1.   Are my constitutional rights being violated? Even if she was part owner of the dogs does she have the right to sign my rights away?
2.   Are the rescue groups obligated to return MY property?
What about the allegations of abuse and neglect? Can someone keep my property (Virginia considers dogs as property) from me without having a chance to give my side to prove I didn’t either abuse or neglect my dogs?

-----Answer-----
Hello, and sorry to hear about your difficulties.

From the facts given, there are no Constitutional rights at issue.  However, it does sound as if your legal rights were violated.  Your wife arguably stole your dogs and gave them away.  If that is the case, you could sue to have your property returned.

Of course, this gets much more factually muddled because your wife may argue they were her dogs too and also raises factual questions of abandoment and abuse that you would need to disprove in court.

It sounds like you would need to file actions against your wife, the vet, the rescue groups, and the current owners of the dogs to challenge all of this.  You will really need to retain a lawyer to help you through all this litigation.  If you can prove your story, you should have a right to the return of your property, but there are a lot of factual disputes that will need to be resolved first.

Good Luck!  

Answer
Well, it sounds like there are problems establishing ownership because your wife is claiming some ownership rights as well.  An owner has the right to give something away to someone else, which is what your wife apparently did.  Also, unlike other property, dogs can be removed from an owner for mistreatment.  It really sounds like if you want to pursue this, you should retain an attorney who can take a closer look at the matter.

- Mike