This is one of those stories you hear about all the time, a couple splits and it's the little ones that suffer. When the Father in this case stopped paying support and following their joint custody agreement the Mother had no other choice but to call her lawyer.Here is a transcript of the interview I had with the Mother last Monday at her Oshawa apartment. *As there is currently an open court battle we have been asked to refrain from using names. Therefore, we have inserted Mother, Father, and Little Guy to comply with the court's privacy act.*
It was a pretty amicable break up. There was no fighting, no bitterness. Even when it came to making up an agreement on what we were going to do with the little guy, which we had adopted a couple of years earlier, there were no problems. We had agreed I would remain the full time caregiver and Father would take him every second weekend. We agreed that Father would pay for half the bills as well. And, this arrangement worked great. Father would show up Friday night and keep Little Guy busy for the next two days. They would go to the park, meet up with other Little Guys, and just enjoy time together. Sunday night Little Guy would come home, usually hyped up because of some treat Father had given him, but, it was ok because Little Guy was happy.
This arrangement also gave me a chance to have some much needed downtime to recharge. You cannot imagine how draining it is to be the only caregiver in a house. It was so nice for me to have a chance to clean up the yard and keep it clear for at least one day.
After about six months Father started missing weekends, claiming he had to work or was going to be out of town. The weekends he did take Little Guy were different. Little Guy would come home earlier on Sunday looking unenthused and bored. It turned out Father was not taking him to the park and instead spending hours lying around watching TV.
Then one Sunday it all blew up! Little Guy came home smelling like smoke. I picked him up, sniffed his fur, and demanded to know why our little doggie smelled like a cigarette! Father finally admitted that he was in a new relationship with a woman who smoked.
I won't repeat the expletives I said after that, but, I will say it was nasty. We had turned into that arguing divorced couple that we never thought we would.
But after I tell you what I learned you'll understand why I took the bastard to court.
Turns out Little Guy's lackluster behaviour was a direct result of this new girlfriend. Turns out She [new girlfriend] doesn't like the off leash parks, although that is apparently where Father and her met. So, what used to be Father and Little Guy's routine of spending Saturday mornings at the off leash park was now a thing of the past. Instead, Saturday is the day She likes to go shopping...without the dogs, of course. Oh, that is another thing. She adopted a new dog of her own recently, which she believes is far superior to our 'mutt' as she apparently calls him. Anyway, now She is putting pressure on Father to accept Her fur-babies as his, which means Father doesn't have the time or money for Little Guy anymore!
Our agreement was every second weekend and money to support basic things like food, water, clothes, lessons, and a hair and nail clip every three months. I didn't even force him to pay the vet fees! He should be happy about that.
Without this support I've had to move down to a lower grade food for Little Guy. It's just not right. Which is why I went to see my lawyer.
The case is working its way through the family courts, but, as with other similar cases it is taking longer than it should. The system is badly underfunded for the number of cases it deals with on a daily basis. It seems to me like this deadbeat doggy Daddy is getting off pretty easy. In the meantime, Little Guy is living on low grade food and wearing last years winter coat.
DUSTY | Oshawa | 9:15am
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