Location: California
Posting for my girlfriend to see what can legally be done. This will be a long wall of text but I want to give as many details as possible.
She was in a 5 year relationship with him, during this time she was working through mental health battles due to many unfortunate events in her life. Both of her parents passed away, she became extremely sick and had mental breakdowns. She began looking for a therapy animal and after some time, found a breeder who had just the dog she was looking for. During the search, her boyfriend at the time was unsure getting a dog and his parents told him no and that he shouldnt do this. She went ahead with adopting the dog anyways because she needed an emotion support animal. Long story short, they broke up and would share custody of the dog. A few days with the dog and a few days without.
She didnt think the sharing would continue after a year, but it has and she really doesnt want to do this with him anymore which is understandable. We are looking for ways to legally keep the dog.
She has the paperwork stating the dog will be an ESA for her. She has registered the dog in her city and continues to renew with the city yearly. The big reason I want to help is because I see how much she takes care of the dog, she is the one who takes him to the vet, the groomers and keeps up on anything the dog needs. Contstantly she has to remind her ex partner to take him to the groomer and even the vet. Her ex lives with his parents and he often leaves the dog with the parents and really seems to not like doing the responsible things for the dog, like taking him on walks and making sure his health is good. He has stated he developed a bond with the dog and has even made comments that he wouldve already just taken the dog and ghosted her, but he knows the dog is her support animal. She has offered to pay for him to adopt a new dog, but he isnt budging and countered by saying you can get a new dog and ill keep him.
I have started helping her keep a running excel sheet of the vet visits, groomer visits and anything else related to the dogs health.
What legally can be done in this situation? I really wish he would just honor the fact that the dog was for her as an ESA and removing him from her life will wreck her mental state. I can add anymore details needed.