Opinion People love their pets. So much so, that they will go to court over them

Large and intensely black; thick, velvety fur; has a faint fringe of white hair across his chest; not easy to find in ordinary light.” When his daughter Clara’s beloved black cat Bambino disappeared while she was convalescing in a sanatorium, Mark Twain put out the ad in the New York American and spent days receiving strangers with abandoned black cats in the hope of finding Bambino among them. The cat returned on his own, but it was no secret in New York that the American writer loved his daughter, and Bambino, with equal fervour.

That they occupy a special place in the lives of their humans is no secret. But separated by centuries and continents, the spurt in litigation and mediations in India’s capital over pets and strays only goes to show that the law is just beginning to catch up with what the heart has always known: That animals matter — not as assets, but as companions. And, in some circumstances, they are the bone of contention or caught between adversaries. Take, for instance, a civil suit filed in 2023 by an advocate against his neighbours in south Delhi. The reason: Their pet had chased him, leading him to fall and fracture his wrists. When TMC MP Mahua Moitra broke up with lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, the bitterness spilled over into a custody tussle over their beloved Rottweiler, Henry.

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It may seem trivial to some, absurd even, but these disputes, at their core, are declarations of how much trust is conveyed through a wag of a tail or the flick of a feline ear. In lonely, crowded urban metropolises, pets provide the kind of unstinting comfort that few can. Neighbours fight, lovers part, but what lingers is the bond with the creature left in between. Reforms to Australian law last month recognised this: For the first time, in cases of separation, Australian courts will factor in emotional attachment when determining pet ownership. As Delhi courts navigate this tricky terrain, it is a reminder that love, no matter how small or furry, always leaves a trail.