VOA慢速英语2021--分手时宠物会怎么样

What Happens to Pets When Couples Break Up

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

In the United States, the law views domestic¹ animals, or pets, as property when married people legally separate.

Now, American courts are seeing new ways of deciding custody² of the family pet. Special negotiators are being employed to argue for pet "parents." Some couples are even signing contracts before they marry about pet ownership if the marriage ends. These so-called "petnups" are designed to avoid possible courtroom disputes in the future.

Petnup is a play on the word "prenup." Prenup is short for "prenuptial," a contract that some couples seek before marriage. Prenups usually deal with property rights.

Several pet owners and lawyers recently talked to the Associated Press.

In some U.S. states laws permit judges to decide pet custody based on the best interest of the animal under consideration.

New York lawmakers are considering such a bill. New York State Senator³ James Skoufis is the main supporter of the New York measure. He also has a cat named Ruth, for the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Skoufis spoke⁴ to the Associated Press about the proposed legislation⁵.

"Someone's cat or someone's dog is a part of their family and should not be treated like a piece of furniture...," he said.

Adam Citron is a New York divorce lawyer. He says pet custody is always a difficult issue. So, he supports prenups that include pets. A petnup can be especially helpful when people get animals during the marriage.

He added that pet custody is far more emotional and difficult to settle than ownership over a set of dishes or a car. In states without these laws, Citron suggests this: Before a couple gets an animal, they should decide whose name will appear alone on registration⁶ or ownership papers. That person should pay any costs linked to the pet with their own money.

Some negotiators say they work to solve pet disputes through shared custody. Others say that that is not always best for the animal, especially dogs. Dogs are most often at the center of pet custody disputes.

Miles Mason Sr. is a divorce lawyer in Memphis, Tennessee. He told the AP about one couple's especially heated pet custody battle. He said the wife and husband fought about their two German shepherd dogs. The wife had taken training to better control the large dogs. The husband had not. Before the divorce, the husband lost control of one of their dogs while on a walk. It attacked and killed another dog. The wife argued later that the husband should not get custody of their dogs because he could not control them.

When the couple separated, the husband wanted to visit their dogs. A judge agreed, but said the visits must be supervised⁷ and take place at the wife's home. However, the judge said he could reconsider the decision if the man sought training on how to control German shepherds.

"We believe the judge had experience with German shepherds because he understood the concerns with highly trained and disciplined dogs," the lawyer said.

Karis Nafte has studied animal behavior for nearly 26 years. Two years ago, she started working as a pet custody specialist for people seeking divorces.

"Part of what I try to help people understand," she said, "is that even if a dog feels like a child in your heart, it isn't..."

In fact, treating your pet like a child could do harm to the animal. Visitation schedules or shared custody, Nafte said, can be far harder on a dog than a permanent separation. A dog moving between two homes on a usual basis, she said, can lead to behavioral problems.

She added that expert advice can help. "A lot of times," she said, "people just don't know what to do. They just don't want to say goodbye to their dog."

Nafte suggested putting pet custody at the top of divorce negotiations⁸. It can make the rest of the process run more smoothly⁹.

Mental health workers can help couples too.

Marriage expert Sharon O'Neill has helped couples through divorce in New York's Westchester County for more than 20 years. In one case, during a discussion with a couple, a wife demanded that she must keep the dog. However, her husband did not believe she cared enough to take responsibility for the animal.

"In working with her alone, I came to understand that it had more to do with hurting her husband because she truly believed he loved the dog more than he had ever been capable of loving her," O'Neill said.

The mental health adviser¹⁰ said the couple was able to get to the truth through talking. They agreed that he would get the dog and she would get a set of furniture.

Words in This Story

couple -n. two persons married, engaged, or otherwise romantically paired

custody -n. law : the legal right to take care of a child (such as a child whose parents are divorced)

furniture -n. chairs, tables, beds, etc., that are used to make a room ready for use

divorce -n. the ending of a marriage by a legal process

disciplined -adj. marked by or possessing discipline

schedule -n. a plan of things that will be done and the times when they will be done

1 domestic   

adj.家里的，国内的，本国的；n.家仆，佣人

参考例句：

• This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
• She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 senator   

n.参议员，评议员

参考例句：

• The senator urged against the adoption of the measure.那参议员极力反对采取这项措施。
• The senator's speech hit at government spending.参议员的讲话批评了政府的开支。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

6 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

7 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

10 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。