FAMÍLIA MULTIESPÉCIE: animais sencientes como integrantes nas relações familiares e a proteção jurídica desses seres em caso de dissolução conjugal

Abstract

This paper addresses the insertion of the non-human animal within the family context, entitled as a multispecies family, aiming to analyze the legal protection granted to pets in the face of a possible dissolution of the marital society in the light of the Brazilian legal system, as a new contemporary reality. For that, the article used a methodological, qualitative approach of bibliographic and documentary nature, with the study of doctrines, legislation, jurisprudence, analysis of court decisions, bills that regulate the subject. It was observed that the Civil Code of 2002 recognizes animals as movable and moving goods, on the other hand, these beings are endowed with sentience and receive status of family members in the current social context, prioritizing affectivity in the human-animal relationship. Furthermore, the absence of a legal provision that regulates the fate of the animal after family marital breakdown is evidenced by the recurring demands that include the courts for the resolution of any disputes in which guardians claim coexistence rights. Thus, it appears that the judges have not been exempt from judging such issues, seeking to resolve conflicts in an analogous way, resorting to the general principles of law, the doctrine and institutes of Family Law, taking into account the recognition the sentience of animals and the affective bonds established between them and their guardians, from the perspective of protecting the dignity of the human person and the well-being of the non-human animal.