A friend of mine had to leave town for work. He left his Malamute/wolf with the vets who also runs a kennel. one of the attendents leaves the gate open and the dog escapes into traffic and is killed by a truck. What is the liability of the Vets? can he recover more than the purchase price of the animal do to emotional distress? I know that's a reach but I'm a bit curious. Do courts differentiat from the lay about house pet and the GSD that you spent hundreds if not thousands of hours training?

I live in Texas so this answer may or may not apply to your state.

First, you have to look at the contract to see what limitations of liability the vet might have included in the contract.

Second, if you can prove negligence or breach of contract you might have a case for the purchase price of the dog or the market value of the dog whichever is higher. For example if it was a titled dog from a high profile bloodline then the value of the dog could be very high,e.g., a leerburg pup vs. an ordinary german shepherd.

I do not believe emotonal damages would be recoverable. Despite what "tort reformers" would have you believe, the law in most states is not geared for the plaintiff. Accordingly you will not be able to receive emotional damages for the loss of property which is after all is what a pet is. It makes sense when you think about it. I mean where are we going to draw the line, a dog, a hamster, a gold fish?

Further juries are alot smarter and a lot more conservative than they get credit for since the only time you hear about a verdict is when they (the jury) does something stupid. Which sometimes happens but not often. Hope this helps.

that's what I thought, but imho the kennel getting off the hook for the price of a mutt doesn't sit right with me. I guess my friend have to put that in the lessons learned part of his life.

I'll start by saying that I am sad that this happened, very sad. I manage a boarding kennel and I can say that it is the purchase price, but I think it only goes up to two hundred dollars. Not sure though. I would like this information to get out though, When you drop off your dog at the kennel if the dog is an escape artist, or a dog that only listens to you, please tell us so we can deal with this dog accordingly. Having a dog hit you at the knees seriously bites. We have multiple fences, so we have a chance in heck to get the dog if they burst past. So many owners know their dog is like this and neglect to tell us. They don't try it every time. You know the sneaky type. Many don't try it on guy's or vice versa. The type of dog mentioned above is either perfect with us, or OH SHOOT. Just some info I'd like to pass on to those who may kennel their dogs. It makes for an easier day.

From what my friend told me about his wolf/dog was an excelent argument against owning one. The animal was an escape artist and normal fences were not a obstical. He'll never own another. Now the county is involved. even tho the rabies vacs were up to date, the county wants to dig up his animal, remove the head and check for rabies. even in death, wolf/dog hybreds are a pain in the a$$.