Karis Nafte
Accredited Mediator, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant & Author
Karis Nafte is an internationally recognised expert in pet custody matters, with over three decades of professional experience working with dogs and their families. She is both an Accredited Mediator and a Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant, uniquely positioned at the intersection of family law, mediation, and animal wellbeing.
Karis is widely regarded as a leading global voice on pet custody during separation and divorce. Her work addresses a growing but often overlooked area of family conflict, where disputes over pets can become emotionally charged, protracted, and deeply distressing for all involved, including the animal.
Her approach is distinctive in that it places the needs and lived experience of the pet at the centre of decision-making, rather than treating animals as property or afterthoughts. Drawing on extensive behavioural expertise, Karis helps families, mediators, and legal professionals develop custody arrangements that prioritise stability, attachment, routine, and wellbeing.

Karis delivers pet custody mediation and consultations internationally across the UK, United States, and Australia, and provides specialist training for mediators, lawyers, veterinarians, and animal professionals. Her accredited education programme is the first of its kind, equipping divorce professionals to approach pet custody through a welfare-informed, evidence-based lens.
Day 2 - Karis Nafte | Breakout
Pet Custody: Who Gets the Dog and Why It Matters
Who it will interest
Family mediators, family lawyers, judges, mental health professionals, animal welfare practitioners
What this session is about
Disputes over pets are rarely just about animals. In separation and divorce, pets often become symbols of attachment, loss, identity and power. As a result, pet custody can become one of the most emotionally charged and poorly handled areas of family conflict. Despite its prevalence, it remains largely overlooked or treated as a property issue within many family justice systems.
Drawing on her dual expertise as an accredited mediator and certified dog behaviour consultant, and as the author of Who Keeps the Dog: Navigating Pet Custody During Divorce, Karis introduces a pet centred framework for resolving disputes. This approach considers attachment patterns, routine, breed characteristics, behavioural needs and the wider emotional context of separation.
Key themes
Why pet custody disputes escalate so quickly
How pets experience separation, instability and loss
The behavioural and welfare implications of custody decisions
Shared versus sole custody from the animal’s perspective
Common professional pitfalls in pet custody cases
Reducing harm while resolving emotionally charged disputes
What delegates will gain
A deeper understanding of the emotional and behavioural dynamics underpinning pet custody
A structured framework for resolving disputes more effectively
Greater confidence raising and managing pet related issues in mediation or court
Insight into when shared arrangements support welfare and when they do not
Practical tools to reduce escalation while prioritising wellbeing
How it connects to other sessions
Extends the safeguarding lens of the conference by recognising vulnerability beyond the human participants and reinforces the ethos of resolving disputes earlier and more humanely.