The legal (im)possibility of animal custody

Abstract

This work analyzes the decision of Rio de Janeiro State Court concerning the appeal 0019757-79.2013.8.19.0208, which has deferred, in a case of civil union dissolution, the scheduled possession of a pet dog. We pretend to demonstrate that, in cases like this, the use of the juridical institute of custody is inappropriate, since it is incompatible with axiological formulations of General Dogmatic of Private Law. Accordingly, we do not disregard the existence of many reasons to deny the juridical possibility of animal custody. This work, notwithstanding, focus primarily on one point, perhaps the most important one: its incompatibility with the general theory of juridical relationship.