Pet Legal Q&A

If I have an ex-boyfriend who I left a dog with because I was scared of repercussions if I took the dog, can I get the dog back? She is microchipped in my name. I also have the messages proving that I am the one who adopted her. I also have vet records for her under my name.

My puppy was hurt and the grooming business does not want to take responsibility for it. They are saying because of the agreement I signed they don't have to, but this has nothing to do with them sending my dog hurt home.

My dog is chipped and everything, but the shelter did not contact anybody that they were supposed to contact. They just gave my dog to a rescue. Is there anything I can do to get them back?

I was bit in my dominant hand by my friend's Pitbull in her home. It ended up infected and I landed in the ER. I went to see a hand surgeon and was put in a cast for 4 weeks. Still in lots of pain and was sent for an MRI. I had a damaged sagittal band which requires reconstructive surgery. It has now been 8 months and I'm still struggling with the hand and now my insurance has run out. She has no renter's insurance; can I sue the owner of the house?

I took my full coated Pomeranian to a groomer. I requested the groom to be with the owner. They didn't tell me a brand-new person was grooming him. She shaved his back leg down to the skin which must have hurt him and then shaved his body down; I assume so it wouldn't look so bad, but they cut him down so much it caused post clip alopecia. I have taken him to vet specialist who put him on melatonin and now an implant, but it's been a full year and it won't grow back. I want to know if I can sue them for deceptive trade practices, or should I do negligence since I found out later the owner had retired, they never divulged this information. She also forfeited her LLC in 2023, and her son is still running the business under the LLC name. This is in Texas where pets are considered property.

My actual boyfriend gift me and him as birthday gift a dog and he doesn’t treat him right when he is stressed or mad or the dogs does any kind of mess or pees or poops indeed the house he loses his head - and I want to break up with him because I can’t tolerate it anymore but I want to keep the dog - the point is he has paid the vet and food but that doesn’t mean he is mentally okay and he contaminated me of chlamydia and I can’t be with an abusive partner and let him the dog I can’t please help this in an emergency.

How to get dog back after rehoming under false pretenses? The new owner will not let my children see the dog and the dog is locked in a crate all day long.

We adopted a puppy on 11/07/2025 when we adopted him, he wasn’t neutered because his testicles hadn’t dropped. Our dog Wrigley has had a lot of health problems so with that said we never brought him back to be neutered. They reached out a few times, and we were out of town but then the other times he had a lot of health issues, and we did explain this to them. Now they have reached out saying we must have him neutered or they will have their lawyers contact us. The contract I signed doesn’t say anything about neutering. What can I do about this?

Last year in December I gave my cat away to my co-worker. I recently found out that the cat is not being taken care of properly and want her back so that I have peace of mind that the cat is safe in my care. She’s offered to let me cat sit at my house while she goes on vacation, legally, could I just keep the cat at that point, with the concerns I have? Neither of us have documentation of ownership but I have the cat’s shot records while my co-worker has no papers.

My pets were taken last Thursday, my lawyer has said they are pressing charges, but I haven't reviewed any paperwork yet. My lawyer hasn't told me how to retrieve them, but I've read online I need to request a hearing in 14 days. They told me they took them because we were gone and one dog had fly strike on the ears, while my Doberman had no issues. My dogs are loved, what can I do?