Tucker the goldendoodle’s human parents split up in 2022. They’ve fought in court over his ownership ever since.
Unable to bring them to an agreement, a judge in Delaware handed down an unusual ruling in November. She ordered Tucker’s parents to bid against each other in a private auction, with the winner getting the 5-year-old pup and the loser getting the money.
There is no public information about who won Tucker, but the case got UVA Today wondering how often dog custody disputes end up in court.
Margaret Foster Riley is an expert in animal law and the director of the UVA School of Law’s Animal Law Program. (Photo by Ian Bradshaw)
We asked University of Virginia School of Law professor Margaret Foster Riley, director of the school’s . In 2009, the program received , the long-running host of the television game show “The Price is Right” from 1972 to 2007.
An animal rights activist, Barker died in 2023 at age 99.
Q. According to Forbes Magazine’s 2025 data, 66% of U.S. households – about 86.9 million homes – own pets, and nearly all owners view them as family. Has animal law evolved to reflect this reality?
A. Yeah. There’ve been questions of tort law, (the area that deals with civil wrongs.) For example, if a pet is harmed, how do you value that pet? Do you value it as a piece of property, or do you value it as a family member? I would not say the courts have gone all the way to the family member (designation), but they certainly have recognized that pets have more value than inanimate pieces of property.
There’s some pretty active trust and estates (work) in animals, and I would say most of that is all to the good. It used to be that you couldn’t leave any money for the care of an animal because animals, interpreted as property, can’t inherit. But now almost all states have what are called pet trusts. So you can leave money for the care of pets. And if you think about it, with animals like horses, for example, that can actually be a significant change for that animal’s future.
Q. Let’s get to Tucker’s case. Do you think the judge was being particularly creative with her ruling?
A. It was creative. I guess my biggest concern with that solution is that it works if both parties are economically in the same place, because then you can actually do an auction. In a lot of situations, one spouse is not in the same economic position, and it would make it much worse. That wouldn’t be fair. Presumably, the judge knew the economic situation.
It is undisputed that Tucker is a very good boy.
- Judge Bonnie W. David, vice chancellor of the Court of Chancery, Delaware 🐾
Q. Do you think this type of litigation is on the rise?
A. Yes. I’ve definitely seen more of this litigation. Some of it is punitive, where one spouse goes after the other. Some of it is simply that animals and pets play a different role in our lives. This can be especially so when you don’t have children, and it can be the most contentious part of a dissolution of a marriage.
