Regina woman wins custody of Charlie the pug because former partner refused to vaccinate him

Dan Zakreski · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 12:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

A Regina justice says a canine owner's adamant anti-vaccine views yet decided who got ownership of Charlie the pug successful a canine custody dispute.

Provincial tribunal Judge Paul Demong wrote that helium appreciated the stakes successful the case.

"These types of claims teardrop astatine the heartstrings of a judge," he wrote successful his May 1 civilian tribunal decision.

"Having to determine whether a idiosyncratic is to beryllium denied entree to, and possession of, a favored that they person loved and cared for implicit galore years is not an enjoyable task."

In the 10-page decision, Demong elaborate however the mates began surviving unneurotic successful 2015 and past jointly decided to bargain the achromatic puppy for $800 successful 2017. They separated successful 2021 and agreed to swap custody of Charlie weekly.

The statement worked until past year, erstwhile the pistillate advised the antheral that she would nary longer honour the statement due to the fact that of his wellness and addiction issues and, "she further noted that she was acrophobic that the plaintiff was vehemently against vaccinations for the dog," Demong wrote.

Demong noted that Saskatchewan courts afloat recognize the "extreme affection" canine owners person for their pets. This tin beryllium a situation for the courts fixed that, successful the end, dogs are property.

"Dogs are fantastic creatures. They are often highly intelligent, delicate and active, and are our changeless and faithful companions. Many dogs are treated arsenic members of the household with whom they live," wrote Court of King's Bench Justice Richard Danyliuk successful a 2016 case.

"But aft each is said and done, a dog is a dog. At instrumentality it is property, a domesticated carnal that is owned. At instrumentality it enjoys nary familial rights."

Demong said the antheral did not assistance his lawsuit by admitting under questioning that helium had doctored the archetypal acquisition statement by adding his sanction and signature to marque it look similar the couple had jointly paid the $800 to bargain it from a breeder.

Even with that misstep, Demong said some owners raised the animal, took bully attraction of it and shared costs.

It was the stance connected vaccines that tilted the scale. The antheral had made it wide helium opposed vaccines, going truthful acold arsenic sending a missive to their vet indicating that helium did not consent "to Charlie my achromatic pug get [sic] his vaccinations of immoderate sort."

Demong said it wasn't lone a wellness contented for Charlie. The vaccines covered rabies, bordetella, distemper, adenovirus, parainfluenza and parvovirus.

"Were helium granted exclusive possession and ownership of Charlie and followed done with his anti-vaccine attack to Charlie's care, this nonfeasance/misfeasance could origin unwellness oregon decease not lone to Charlie, but to animals and humans which travel into interaction with him," Demong wrote.

"It is not lone successful Charlie's champion interest, but it alleviates the imaginable interest that [his] attack to canine attraction mightiness make superior wellness hazards to different animals and to radical who brushwood him."

Demong awarded the pistillate afloat ownership of Charlie, conditional connected her paying her erstwhile spouse $400.