Delaware Chancery Court Orders Auction in Goldendoodle Fight

An estranged couple’s dispute over their goldendoodle presented a new challenge for Delaware’s elite business court: How should an equity court fairly split ownership of a pet?

In a novel partition ruling, Vice Chancellor Bonnie W. David decided Friday that Tucker’s ownership will be decided by a private auction, with ownership awarded to the highest bidder.

“Dogs are property, but they are not furniture,” she said, calling them “living, sentient beings with value that transcends economics.”

An auction was the fairest option, since the ex-couple couldn’t reach any agreement about Tucker’s future. “While a few courts have applied a best-interests standard when resolving ownership disputes over a companion animal, none have explained why that approach should prevail over the common law default of a value-maximizing auction,” she said.

While the Delaware Chancery Court is best known for effectively writing the rules for corporate America, it also manages a caseload of local property problems. It’s sometimes asked to resolve stalemates over business entities caught up in divorce proceedings, and the chief judge faced a horse owner’s demand to retrieve his Clydesdale’s remains from a landfill.

Partition

David opened her opinion by quoting Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The Power of the Dog,” which warns readers about the sorrow that’s possible when you “give your heart to a dog to tear.” A picture of the dog on a beach is attached as an exhibit.

The couple acquired the goldendoodle—a dog breed that’s a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle—while dating. The dispute over Tucker’s ownership began when they broke up in 2022. Three other state courts ultimately decided the couple shared joint ownership.

Karen Callahan, who hasn’t seen Tucker since the breakup, asked the Chancery Court for a “transparent auction.” Callahan’s ex, Joseph Nelson, wanted David to consider “Tucker’s best interest.”

David decided in May to “partition” Tucker, though Delaware’s real property partition statute didn’t directly address pet ownership. The statute defaults to a physical division of property, or a public auction if the parties can’t agree.

“This Court has never partitioned a pet, so the procedure for doing so is uncharted,” the judge said.

It was “unsurprising” that Callahan and Nelson couldn’t agree how a partition should proceed, David said. “I am utterly convinced that both parties love this dog and would care for him.”

A veterinary behaviorist testified at a hearing last week that Tucker has “separation anxiety and distress” and is “extremely sensitive” to changes in his routines. But there’s no evidence either party would harm Tucker, David said.

“Even if the evidence slightly favored one owner over the other, it fails to convince me that a partition by auction is not the fairest method under the circumstances,” she said, appointing an attorney to serve as partition trustee and conduct the auction.

Callahan is represented by Manning Gross & Massenburg LLP. Nelson is represented by Connolly Gallagher LLP.

The case is Callahan v. Nelson, Del. Ch., No. 2024-1099, opinion 11/14/25.