Texas court rules owners can sue for sentimental value of dog mistakenly euthanized by shelter

Watch “The People’s Court” long enough and you’ll hear Judge Milan say that in the eyes of the law, pets are property and owners are only entitled to the “market value” of their dogs, regardless of how they were injured or killed.

But a Texas court this week set a ground breaking precident when they ruled that a Ft. Worth family could recover the sentimental value of their dog, who was mistakenly euthanized at a local animal shelter.

According to the Star-Telegram, the Medlen family of Ft. Worth lost their dog two years ago when, spooked by a thunderstorm, the 8-year-old lab, Avery, escaped from the family’s yard and was picked up the animal control.

The Medlens went to retrieve the dog, didn’t have enough cash in hand, returned the next day ready to pay the fees, and were told that the dog couldn’t be released until a microchip was implanted in his ear. The vet was out of the shelter for a few days so the Medlens would have to wait.

On the day Avery was supposed to be available to go home, Jeremy Medlen went to get the dog, only to find that he’d been mistakenly euthanized.

This isn’t something that’s unique in this case; believe it or not, these kind of mistakes happen more often than you might think. When it does happen, the shelter often offers a new dog, the cost of the dog, or something else to replace the dog. Legally, the dog’s owner is entitled to recoup the market value of the dog but no more.

In this case, the shelter offered the Medlens another dog, cash, to pay Avery’s burial fees. But that wasn’t enough for the family, who sought to recover what they considered to be the sentimental value of the dog. The original lawsuit was dismissed, and the Medlens appealed.

After a year and a half, a panel of the 2nd Second Court of Appeals recently ruled that the Medlens could indeed recover the sentimental value of Avery.

“It is the first time in Texas history that an appeals court has allowed a dog owner to recover sentimental-value damages for the death of a dog,” said Randy Turner, the Fort Worth attorney who represents the Medlens, in the Star-Telegram article. He handled he case at no charge.

Fort Worth attorney Paul Boudloche, who represented the former shelter worker, said in the article, “This has a significant impact, economic impact, particularly for veterinarians who may end up having to practice defensive medicine, increasing the cost for everybody taking their pets to a vet … Kennel owners will have more exposure, even neighbors who take care of one of their neighbor’s pets while someone is on vacation.”

There isn’t any word on what the Medlens recovered in dollars for sentimental value for Avery; they haven’t yet gotten another dog. They do say that they feel compassion for and forgive the shelter worker who mistakenly euthanized their dog.

Anyone who has lost a dog knows that the fair market value of the animal – whether it’s a $100 adoption fee paid to a rescue group or $1000 paid to a breeder – is far less than what the dog means emotionally. I think it’s a good thing to allow people to recover more than the  market value for their pets in situations like this. To have their family pet euthanized as a result of the shelter’s mistake is devastating. 

But do we draw the line between outright negligence and accident when it comes to determining the judgment? Does it matter if your dog was mistakenly euthanized or ran in front of a car and was killed? Do you think it’s fair to allow pet owners to recover the sentimental value of their dogs? It’ll be interesting to see where this legal ruling leads.