Pet Legal Q&A

Elinor D. Molbegott, is an attorney who maintains a law practice devoted to animal law. Elinor donates her time to answer questions from North Shore Animal League America supporters who would like to learn more about animal law.

My dog attacked another dog. Am I responsible for the medical bill?

My neighbor's dog is always outside off a leash barking at people. Last week my dog got out of the house and attacked her dog after her dog was on our side of the pavement. When my dog got out, her dog ran home, and my dog ran after her. She took her dog to the vet and she has a $455 bill. Should I be responsible for the bill?

By |2019-06-17T13:04:33-04:00June 17th, 2019|

I want my foster cat that was adopted back.

I am a foster parent and I was tricked by a customer. They adopted a cat from me and I did not notice that they put a PO Box into the address line. The driver license number is wrong too and her phone number is to her work place. Once I noticed, I asked her to provide an address, and she refused saying that she doesn’t feel comfortable doing so. I am very concerned about my foster cat. I have no idea where the cat is currently and she won’t cooperate. She told me that I signed the papers so now the cat is hers, and she said to take her to court. Can I legally demand the cat back?

By |2019-06-17T12:56:00-04:00June 17th, 2019|

Sibling dispute over beloved cat

My sister found an abandoned kitten 11 years ago and it has been in the care of myself and my family for that time. Now she is moving and wants to take the cat that has been in our care for over a decade.

By |2018-07-17T14:41:39-04:00July 10th, 2018|

My Ex kept our dogs

My ex and I adopted our dogs he basically kept everything under his name. I want to make sure that I can go visit them and take them with me twice a month on the weekends. How can I make sure I can always see them?

By |2018-06-22T15:15:52-04:00June 15th, 2018|

I want my kitten back

We were skeptical about keeping her due to work schedules. We called this what we thought was an animal agency in our neighborhood well a lady came and picked her up saying she was going to take care of her until she can put her up for adoption. We now found out she is trading our kitten.

By |2018-06-25T10:30:04-04:00June 15th, 2018|

Surrender of dog

We adopted a great Pyrenees and he has anxiety issues and aggression towards our smaller dogs and cat. We would like to fix this behavior but cannot work with our local rescue organization to do so because of the adoption contract.

By |2018-06-25T10:13:22-04:00June 7th, 2018|
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