Custody battles have a tendency to get out of control, whether they're over children, tiny dogs or masturbating bears. Two former lesbian lovers are engaged in one such fight over their shared Labrador-Shepherd mix named Lily: “It’s out of spite,” said Rebecca Finkel, who claims her ex Michelle Quintus gave the dog away without consulting her. “She knew that taking Lily away would devastate me and she did.”
Finkel described their relationship to the News as generally amicable since the two broke up in late 2004 after being together for seven years before that in Brooklyn. A friend of the former couple, Bronx resident Lourdes Garcia, initially adopted Lily, but then gave the pup to the couple a few weeks later. Since their break up, Quintus moved to Ohio; the two have been sharing custody since then, meeting halfway between Brooklyn and Ohio.
Now, Finkel says that Quintus has suddenly given the 8-year-old dog back to Garcia, told her the sharing agreement was over, and to not make contact again. “She’s trying to get back to me for something, I don’t know what,” Finkel said. She's suing Quintus asking for the dog back. Her lawyer said of Quintus, “One of the parties clearly doesn’t care about the dog anymore." Finkel says Lily is like her child: “Some people view dogs as property. I don’t,” she said. “Lily is part of my family.”
