Pet custody after a separation in Peru: who keeps the dog or the cat?

There is no such thing as “pet custody”

When a couple splits up, who keeps the dog or the cat is a common question. The legal answer is short: Peru has no rules on custody, visitation or support for pets. We did not find any in the Civil Code or in Ley 30407, the Animal Protection and Welfare Law.

That does not mean there is no answer. It means the answer comes from property law, not family law.

Under the Civil Code, a pet is property

The Civil Code has no article defining animals, but it treats them as things that have an owner and can be transferred:

• Article 946 says “el propietario de animal hembra adquiere la cría, salvo pacto en contrario”: the owner of a female animal acquires its offspring, unless agreed otherwise.
• Article 1521 governs hidden defects “en la transferencia de animales” — in transfers of animals.

Article 886 lists movable property, and its inciso 9 includes “los demás bienes que puedan llevarse de un lugar a otro” (any other property that can be carried from one place to another). The article does not mention animals, but it follows from these rules that a pet is treated as movable property.

What about “sentient beings”?

Ley 30407 does say something important, but its reach is specific. Article 14 says:

“Para fines de la aplicación de la presente Ley se reconoce como animales en condición de seres sensibles a toda especie de animales vertebrados domésticos y silvestres mantenidos en cautiverio.”

(“For the purposes of applying this Law, all species of domestic and captive wild vertebrate animals are recognized as sentient beings.”)

The key phrase is “para fines de la aplicación de la presente Ley” — for the purposes of this law. That recognition exists to protect animals from cruelty and abandonment. It does not change the Civil Code rules on who owns an animal or how it is divided in a separation.

Who keeps the pet, depending on your situation

Married under community property (sociedad de gananciales)

What matters is when and how the pet came to you.

Article 310 says “son bienes sociales todos los no comprendidos en el Artículo 302º”: everything that is not separate property under article 302 is shared marital property, including what either spouse acquires through their work. A pet bought during the marriage falls in that group, unless it is shown to be separate property.

If your marriage is under separation of property, each of you keeps what is yours. See marital property regimes.

Living together without marriage

Article 326 says that a de facto union meeting its requirements “origina una sociedad de bienes que se sujeta al régimen de sociedad de gananciales”: it creates community property. If your union meets those requirements, the same rules in the table apply. How a de facto union is recognized is covered in de facto unions.

Neither married nor in a de facto union

The pet belongs to whoever owns it. What decides it is who acquired it and whose name it is in.

What to do in practice

Since the law does not regulate shared care or visits, the most useful thing is a written agreement between the two of you: who the pet lives with, whether the other can see it, and how vet costs are split. If you are separating by mutual consent, include it with the rest of your property.

If you cannot agree, gather anything that shows how the pet came to you: the purchase receipt or adoption record, the pet’s registration and its vet records. With that, a family lawyer can tell you how it is treated in your case.

What this page does not cover

We did not review pending bills on pet custody or court rulings on the subject. If a law regulating pet custody is passed, this page will change.