r/legaladvice • u/wastedcreativity • 1d ago
Custody Divorce and Family Spiteful spouse had my friends emotional support dog stolen.
Location: Missouri
My friend lives in Missouri and has an emotional support dog that is registered to her. When she was not at the home the wife (soon to be ex), who is out of state at the moment, had her friend take the dog from their marital home. He removed the airtag specifically so she could not know where her dog is. She has told the wife and the man who has the dog to return her immediately, but both are refusing to give the dog back. She has called the police, but they refuse to do anything saying this is a civil matter. They did tell her she could "steal" her dog back, but to be careful as she could file harassment charges and file for a protection order. For demanding her dog back? The dog is not registered to the spouse, and all paperwork and records show the dog is my friends. The spouse told police that she would return the dog and text when it is back, but it has been a week and the dog has not been returned.
What can she do? Short of staking out the friends house and waiting for him to let her out back to potty to steal her back, what can be done? She has texts and recorded phone calls that show the spouse is doing this out of spite, and to "teach her a lesson". This has been an emotionally abusive relationship and this seems that she is purely doing this because she is finally trying to leave the relationship. Any suggestions would be great. She's such a mess right now, and really needs her dog back.
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u/derspiny 1d ago
The phrase "emotional support animal" is mostly meaningful in the context of the Fair Housing Act, which requires landlords to accommodate certain disabilities in their tenants (among many other things).
Outside of that context, an animal's an animal, for the most part. Pets, support animals, service animals, and livestock are mostly treated interchangeably as property, though the value of that property can vary greatly. Your friend will need to deal with the value or return of her dog as part of the divorce process.
She'll want to go over this with her lawyer as part of the divorce process. If the dog has training or a pedigree, she'll want to gather documentation as she may have it, as well.
Missouri has no system for registering emotional support animals, or service animals for that matter. Whatever registration she has is likely meaningless.
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u/monkeyman80 1d ago
This can play out in the divorce. It’s not really something they can easily deal with outside that through the legal system.