Rocco Junior is just over a year old with a glossy grey coat and a tongue that often flops out of the side of his mouth – he’s also the subject of an unprecedented legal battle in Ontario scheduled to unfold this summer.
“It was just shocking to me that this can even happen,” Aliesha Verma, a Brampton, Ont. resident currently in possession of the mixed breed pup, told CTV News Toronto in an interview in early June. “I’m very scared and the thought [of forfeiting him] is unbearable.”
The case also serves as a lens on the current legal treatment of companion animals in the country, Desa said. In Canada, pets are not awarded any familial rights in the eyes of the law – they’re treated as general property. “The trustee would then have the ability, theoretically, to deal with the animal as they would deal with any other estate property, the same way that they would deal with a table or a lamp,” Desa said. “They sell it, or transfer ownership, or they could even put the animal down.”Pet owners should make specific plans for their furry friends in the event of a death, says Kim Cura, an estate litigator at“So many pet owners treat their pets as family,” Cura said.
“For those of us who are very protective of our pets, I think it would be very well advised to speak to their estate planning lawyers," she said.Come August, Desa will make the argument that Rocco was a gift to Verma from Leonard, and therefore, should remain with Verma.
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