This dog is at the centre of a legal fight between a man's grieving family and girlfriend

A legal tussle over a dog has cost both sides thousands in legal fees — and plenty of heartache — while highlighting how the law treats pets in estate battles. 

A Toronto-area court late last month ordered Aliesha Verma to turn over Rocco Junior, an American bull terrier, to her deceased partner's sister by March 15. But this week Verma asked for a stay on that order while she appeals the decision.

"He's my family, he's my friend, he's my child," Verma told CBC Toronto.

She says the dog was a gift and that she relies on it for emotional and mental support.

Verma and Leonard Carvalho had been together for about six years when he died suddenly in November 2022, at age 60. He'd purchased the dog during a trip to Florida with Verma that February and, she claims in court documents, gave it to her.

But Leonard didn't mention Verma in his will. Instead, he left everything to his two sisters, Arlete and Helga Carvalho, and a former spouse, court documents show.

Even so, Verma maintains the dog is hers. She also claims that she should be entitled to the dog since she was Leonard's common-law spouse when he died.

His sisters argue that the dog was never gifted to Verma, and that, as Carvalho's property at the time of his death, it should be considered part of his estate, of which Arlete is the executor. 

The case is focusing new attention on how the law views pets.

In most provinces, including Ontario, animals are viewed as property.

But earlier this year, British Columbia became the first province to redefine how pets are viewed by the courts, amending its Family Law Act so that they are now considered unique entities in separation and divorce cases. 

Instead of being treated as property, like a table or chair, courts there now decide an animal's ownership based on a person's ability and willingness to care for it, on any relationship between the pet and a child, and risks of animal cruelty.

Victoria Shroff, a Vancouver lawyer who specializes in the law as it relates to animals, says she believes B.C. is setting an example for other jurisdictions.

"It wouldn't surprise me at all if we got copycat legislation in other provinces," she said. "Animals are no longer being treated as toasters."