What the research shows, without exaggeration
- A link with isolation, not a demonstrated effect. A systematic review of 24 observational studies concludes that, among adults, having a pet is associated with less social isolation; for loneliness, the association was not clear before the Covid-19 pandemic, and only some of the studies find one (Kretzler et al., 2022). These studies do not prove that the animal is the cause. What may play a part is what its presence produces: routine, going outside, interactions with other people. In a British study that followed 43 pairs of older people for a year, dog owners walked on average 22 minutes more per day than the others, at a brisk pace (Dall et al., 2017).
- Physical contact counts. In a randomised trial of 249 American students, ten minutes spent stroking cats and dogs lowered cortisol, a stress hormone measured in saliva, more than simply watching the animals (Pendry and Vandagriff, 2019). The measured effect is brief: the trial did not test repeated sessions.
- For children, the benefits are about responsibility and emotional regulation, provided the work is genuinely shared and matched to the child's age.
- What the research does not show is that a pet cures depression or replaces a human bond. An animal taken on during acute distress, without the capacity to care for it, usually makes things worse for both.
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Which animal for which life
| You live alone and work away from home | A cat, two cats, or an animal that copes with being alone. A dog left for eight hours a day is an unhappy dog, and barking in your absence is the leading cause of neighbour disputes. |
|---|---|
| You are at home and want to get out more | A dog, provided you choose size and energy by your real capacity rather than by the image. A herding breed in a flat without a daily run is a problem waiting to happen. |
| You have young children | Wait until the youngest is old enough to understand that an animal is not a toy, usually around five or six. More than half of the victims of animal bites are children, and the World Health Organization recommends never leaving a child unsupervised with a dog (WHO). In a Belgian survey of 100 bitten children treated in emergency departments, 65 had been bitten at home; their median age was 5 and no adult was supervising them (Kahn et al., 2003). |
| You travel often | Sort out care before adopting, not after: family, a neighbour, a boarding kennel or a home pet-sitter, with a backup plan. |
| You are older | An older animal, already trained, whose life expectancy fits yours, and a written arrangement for what happens if it outlives you or if you can no longer look after it. In the first French study on abandonment, carried out among shelters and pounds, the reason most often given for abandoning a dog is the owner's physical incapacity: disability, moving into a care home, death (La SPA and Fondation Affinity, 2025). |
The real cost
The purchase price is the smallest part. Over the life of a medium-sized dog, food, vaccinations, parasite treatment, neutering, microchipping, unexpected veterinary care and boarding during absences add up to several thousand pounds. Two items are systematically underestimated: boarding during holidays and an unplanned operation, which easily runs into hundreds or thousands. Pet insurance is worth considering on that basis, reading the exclusions very carefully.
Things a couple should settle first
- Who walks the animal, and at what time, on weekdays?
- Who pays for what, and what happens on separation? Rules vary from country to country. In France, the Civil Code has recognised since 2015 that animals are living beings endowed with sensitivity, but they remain subject to the rules on property (French Civil Code, art. 515-14). In Spain, since Law 17/2021, if the spouses cannot agree the divorce judge entrusts the animal to one or both of them, taking into account the interest of the family and the animal's welfare, whoever owns it (Law 17/2021, BOE). In France, a written question from a member of parliament proposed a framework based on the animal's welfare; the Minister of Justice replied on 28 April 2026 that, at this stage, there were no plans to change the rules applied by the family court judge (National Assembly). Putting in writing who the animal belongs to avoids making it an issue on the day everything gets tense.
- What will you do if life changes? After the owner's incapacity, "life disruptions" (divorce, a birth, losing a job, moving) are the second group of reasons for abandoning a dog identified by the 2025 French study: they account for 27% of cat abandonments and 24% of dog abandonments (La SPA and Fondation Affinity, 2025).
- Does the animal sleep in the bedroom? The question sounds trivial and causes months of friction.
- What will you do if it becomes ill and treatment is very expensive?
- Who takes over if one of you no longer can?
Separation: who keeps the animal
French law does not provide for "custody" of an animal as it does for a child: the animal remains property, and ownership comes first. The identification register also records only one name for a dog, cat or ferret (Service-Public, sheet F35366).
- Married couple without a marriage contract. An animal acquired before the marriage stays with the spouse who had it; one acquired during the marriage is joint property, even if only one of the two bought or adopted it. With a marriage contract, the contract applies (Service-Public, sheet F35366).
- Civil partnership (Pacs) or cohabitation. Whoever bought or adopted the animal alone, or before the relationship began, keeps it; if both acquired it, or if neither can prove sole purchase against the other's claim, it is jointly owned (Service-Public, sheet F35366).
- Without agreement, the family court judge decides (Service-Public, sheet F35366).
To decide, judges do not rely on the identification card alone: the courts of appeal treat it as a rebuttable presumption of possession, and weigh it against the proof of acquisition (invoice, adoption contract), who actually paid for veterinary care, insurance and food, and peaceful day-to-day possession (Revue semestrielle de droit animalier). For a jointly owned animal, they may also look at the animal's actual welfare and the balance of the family: a garden, or the children the animal lives with, has weighed in some appeal decisions (Revue semestrielle de droit animalier).
Three points help avoid unpleasant surprises. First, when asked to award a dog during a divorce, the judge cannot simply send the spouses to the notary for the division without ruling: the Court of Cassation held so on 20 November 2013, and the judge may grant temporary use of the animal during the proceedings (Court of Cassation, 20 November 2013). Second, recent case law refuses to impose shared care or visiting rights on an ex-partner who does not want them, but former partners remain free to arrange shared care and the sharing of costs themselves in an agreement (Revue semestrielle de droit animalier; notaires.fr). Finally, the person who keeps a jointly owned animal alone may owe the other a sum of money (a "soulte") when the assets are divided, often a symbolic one for an animal without a pedigree (Revue semestrielle de droit animalier).
When agreement is impossible: the steps
The family court judge has jurisdiction over spouses and, for the division of property, over Pacs partners and cohabiting partners; a lawyer is generally required. Legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) can, subject to income conditions, cover all or part of the costs and fees (Service-Public, legal aid). Family conciliation or mediation, quicker and cheaper than a trial, is worth trying first.
- The ex has left with the animal. Between spouses, the family immunity in the Criminal Code in principle rules out a complaint for theft: you must apply to the family court judge or the urgent-applications judge. Between cohabiting partners or Pacs partners, this immunity does not apply: the sole owner can file a complaint or ask the judge for its return.
- Changing the name on the register. The change is made with the signature of the previous registered keeper. If they refuse or no longer reply, a regularisation procedure goes through a vet and a registered letter from the managing body (I-CAD); if there is a written objection, the file stays blocked until a judgment or a divorce agreement.
Costs, insurance and liability after separation
During the proceedings, whoever has temporary use of the animal bears the ordinary upkeep. Exceptional veterinary costs, essential to the survival of a jointly owned animal, are expenses of preservation that may be reimbursed or taken into account in the division, on production of the invoices (article 815-13 of the Civil Code, Légifrance). As for insurance, the pet health policy must be cancelled or transferred to the new holder, and the separation agreement may provide for sharing the premiums. As for damage caused by the animal, article 1243 of the Civil Code makes the person who has custody of it at the time responsible (Civil Code, art. 1243): with shared care, that is therefore the ex-partner who is housing it, and each person should check that their home insurance covers the animal.
Renting your home with a pet
A lease cannot forbid keeping a pet: a clause that forbids it is deemed unwritten, provided the animal causes no nuisance to neighbours or damage (art. 10 of the law of 9 July 1970; Service-Public, pets in rented or shared-ownership housing). So-called dangerous dogs of categories 1 and 2 fall under a separate regime, with a permit to keep them (Rural Code, art. L. 211-11 to L. 211-16).
Domestic violence: leaving with your animal
Threatening or abusing the animal is a common means of pressure. A study published on 19 October 2026 with 1,173 participants concludes that abuse of the animal by the partner and psychological violence are the two strongest direct predictors of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress, and that this abuse links physical or sexual violence to distress (Renken et al., 2026). It is an online survey: it shows statistical associations, not causes. This delays the departure of many victims, who do not want to leave their animal behind.
- 3919 (listening and referral service for victims, free and anonymous, 24 hours a day) takes account of the presence of an animal. 3677 receives reports of animal abuse but does not offer accommodation. In immediate danger: 17, or 114 by text message (Arrêtons les violences; Ma Sécurité).
- Where does the animal go? Most emergency shelters do not accept animals: confidential temporary care is arranged with associations or animal shelters, without the abuser knowing the location (Arrêtons les violences).
- Protection order. Since the law of 13 June 2024, the judge can award the victim use of the pet (Minister of Justice's reply to question no. 11259).
- Penalties. Serious abuse, acts of cruelty or abandonment: 3 years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros, 4 years and 60,000 euros if committed by the owner or keeper or in front of a minor, 5 years and 75,000 euros if the animal dies (Criminal Code, art. 521-1).
Adopt rather than buy
Shelters are full of adult animals already chipped, vaccinated and neutered, whose temperament is known — a considerable advantage over a puppy about whom nothing is known. Rescue organisations generally do careful matching between animal and household, and turning down an adoption application is part of that work. Buying online from a stranger without seeing where the animal was bred, by contrast, feeds a documented trade in animals separated from their mother too early and frequently unwell: in 2022 and 2023, an enforcement campaign coordinated by the European Commission found forged documents and fraudulent online adverts (European Commission).
What the law requires before the animal arrives
In France, since 1 October 2022, anyone acquiring a dog, cat, ferret or rabbit, whether buying it or being given it, signs a certificate of commitment and awareness of the needs of that species the first time they acquire an animal of that species since that date, even if they already had one before; the transfer cannot take place less than seven days after the certificate is handed over (French Ministry of Agriculture). Once signed for a species, the certificate does not have to be renewed each time you acquire another animal of that species. It is an administrative policing measure against impulse purchases: signing it alone changes nothing about ownership, which remains governed by the couple's property regime (decree of 18 July 2022). Those seven days are a good moment to go back over the questions above together.
In the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2026/1818, signed on 17 June 2026, sets common welfare and traceability rules for dogs and cats: breeding, sale, online adverts, imports, and a microchip registered in a national database for all, including privately owned animals. It applies from 31 August 2028; under this text, identification will become mandatory only in 2030 for professionals and anyone placing dogs or cats on the market (sale, but also a gift advertised online or made on a regular basis), and in 2036 for dogs and in 2041 for cats of other owners (Regulation (EU) 2026/1818). An animal already legibly microchipped before 31 August 2028 is deemed compliant; in France, identification is in any case already compulsory for dogs, cats and ferrets.
If you are getting a pet to break isolation
That is a good reason, on one condition: that you can look after it on the bad days too. If that is not the case right now, walking a neighbour's dog, fostering for a rescue or volunteering at a shelter gives the same benefits without a fifteen-year commitment.
