A fiercer battle in today's divorces: Who'll get the pooch?

Sometimes the battles get ugly. Take the case of Gigi - a pointer-greyhound mix living in San Diego - who captured national attention last year as her former guardians went through a difficult divorce using the dog, say critics, as a pawn. The joint-custody agreement wasn't working, each agreed, but both wanted to be the primary caretaker. The court brought in an animal behaviorist to do a "bonding study" (a minor flap erupted when it transpired that the husband had hired a different animal behaviorist to prepare him for the official visit). It even entertained a "day in the life of Gigi" video proffered by the wife's divorce lawyer, which showed Gigi snoozing under her chair at work and playing on the beach. After months of negotiations and more than $150,000 in legal fees, the court awarded full custody to the wife.

In another case, Lynn Goldstein of Louisville, Ky., went to jail last May for 30 days for refusing court orders to turn over cats Beanie and Kacey to her ex-husband, Tom Nichols, and then lying under oath that they had run away. A private investigator hired by Mr. Nichols had videotaped her sneaking the felines over to a friend's office late at night. Today she is out of jail and has requested visitation rights.

To avoid such crises, a new website dedicated to the subject, www.petcustody.com (motto: "We're family too"), allows engaged couples to download pet prenuptial forms, and recommends that people get their affairs in order early. "Always, always, always put clear, concise language in prenups that cover your pet," counsels the site. "Abuse, abandonment, homelessness, and possible euthanasia are real risks when families forget to protect their pets from life's most unpredictable circumstances."

"We spend an increasing amount of time with our pets in today's world and form deep relations with them," says Nancy Peterson of the Humane Society of the United States. More people marry at a later age, wait to have children, or decide not to have them at all, she notes. Similarly, more people move away from their parents, and a growing number of them get divorced. "Pets are sometimes the one constant in our lives," she says. "Wanting to protect that bond and find the best solution for the pets and ourselves during a divorce or separation is only natural."

Five years after Stephens and Shoesmith formalized their divorce (complete with a section on the animal arrangements), circumstances have changed. Violet the cat has died, as have Nike and Shay. Differences in their "parenting" styles have been addressed, says Shoesmith, and each is now complimentary of the other's care for the animals.

Whereas they used to meet for the handoff at a halfway point between their homes - conducted the transfer as if it were a "shift change at a hospital," Shoesmith recalls - today the former couple are just as likely to drive all the way over to each other's home. The custody setup has worked, they say, to the benefit of all.

"When you come home from a handoff, the house feels empty, lonely," says Mr. Stephens as he begins collecting the harness, leash, dog bowl, and medicine he will pass on to Shoesmith when Misha is transferred later in the day.

"But we both felt that having both guardians in the picture meant we could take better care of the dogs. It has been for the best."

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