Family lawyers know only too well that divorcing couples all too often end up fighting like cat and dog over their finances, children and homes. So as we know they are increasingly making prenuptial agreements to head off the acrimony. But according to one Manchester solicitor, pets can also be the subject of hairy battles in the divorce court. To prevent this, Andrew Newbury, partner in the family department at Manchester firm Pannone, has suggested that couples make an agreement outlining who gets the dog if they split up – a ‘pre pup’ as he describes it, a soundbite good enough to get him coverage in London freesheet Metro for the idea. You might think he’s barking mad, but Newbury says: ‘For couples without children, their pets can take centre stage and become very important. You can’t actually get residence or contact orders regarding pets because the laws only deal with children, but the court treats pets as chattels, and people do use them as a bargaining tool in sorting out their financial settlements.’ Newbury says that in his experience people fall into two categories – those who feel strongly about pets, and those who cannot understand the attachment. For his own part, he tells Obiter that he has four cats, though one has only three legs. ‘I’m happily married and we don’t have children, but I know that if my wife and I were ever to divorce our main issue would be our cats.’ Obiter suggests that in the absence of pre pups, squabbling pet lovers could try ‘meeowdiation’ to sort out who gets custody of the moggies and pooches. An intriguing tail indeed.