A Woman's Ex-Boyfriend Sued Her for $5,000 to Retain Sole Custody of Their Dog — Details
Published May 16 2023, 5:23 p.m. ET
Breakups suck all around, but what's even worse is when you have to fight for who gets what after the relationship ends.
One woman had to fight for custody of her beloved dog after her boyfriend broke up with her unexpectedly. Even worse? He sued her for $5,000 to get the dog back!
So why couldn't the couple reach an agreement over shared puppy custody? The former girlfriend explained it all on a now-viral TikTok series.
Spoiler alert — she got to keep the dog. Read on for more of the relationship dog drama!
Why did a girlfriend's ex sue her $5,000 for their dog after their breakup?
TikTok creator Erin (@itserinconfortini) explained — with her golden retriever Bella happily sitting in her lap — how an unexpected breakup turned ugly with her ex-boyfriend when it came to who could keep Bella.
Not only did Erin's ex break up with her randomly one day when they were both living together, but he had no intention of letting her share custody of Bella!
Erin explained that her ex initially said that they could work out some kind of agreement when it came to Bella because that was her first thought.
However, when her ex got home, he stated that he intended to keep Bella and Erin would basically never get an opportunity to see her beloved dog again.
Erin grabbed Bella and called the police, and they allowed Erin to take Bella to her mom's house. However, Erin intended to try to work something out with her ex where they could share custody of Bella even though Erin had been Bella's primary caretaker for the past year that they had adopted her.
Basically, Erin explained that her ex stood by his "I'm keeping Bella and that's that" stance, so Erin didn't want to let her ex borrow Bella at all, fearing that she'd never see her pup again.
She tried to weigh her legal options, especially after her ex served her with a notice that he was suing her for $5,000 if she intended to keep Bella for good.
So did Erin decide to take her ex to court to fight the $5,000 charge? After all, she stated in her TikTok that she was the one who paid the most for Bella's care, so in all actuality, she argued that she had actually paid more for Bella than her ex did overall.
After seeking legal counsel, Erin realized the best course of action was to just pay her ex the $5,000 so she could get him off her back and keep Bella, the ultimate prize in her opinion.
Ultimately, if she had decided to take her ex to court, it likely would've resulted in her spending more money anyway to fight her ex's $5,000 lawsuit.
Erin acknowledged that she was lucky that she had the financial means to pay her ex the $5,000, but she had no doubt that keeping Bella was worth it.
After all, dogs aren't just pets to most people — they're part of the family.
