Changing attitudes spur field of pet law Animal rights movement key to growth

BAR HARBOR – Until recently, Michael Bosse’s legal career was devoted exclusively to the construction industry.

Now, the Portland attorney is suing Menu Foods, the Canadian manufacturer whose tainted pet food sickened or killed thousands of dogs and cats throughout North America.

His client’s two cats were left with lingering health problems after eating the tainted food.

Bosse, who handles civil rather than criminal cases, is one of a handful of Maine lawyers at the forefront of animal law – an emerging area of the legal profession fueled by the international animal rights movement.

The Portland lawyer took part last week in a panel discussion about animal law at the summer meeting of the Maine State Bar Association in Bar Harbor.

Over the past two years, Bosse has handled a cat custody case, a contract dispute over the return of a dog to a breeder and an equine malpractice case, in addition to the tainted pet food class-action lawsuit filed in March in U.S. District Court in Portland.

The increase in the number of lawsuits involving animals reflects changes in society’s attitudes about their pets, Bosse said.

“People are willing to spend a lot of money on their animals,” he said. “They can buy pet health insurance and will pay thousands of dollars for surgeries for their dogs and cats that have just a 15 percent success rate. Because of that people are more likely to bring suit.”

The tainted pet food lawsuit now includes thousands of dog and cat owners. Bosse’s case has been combined this summer with other cases from around the country. Once the media reported that the lawsuit had been filed, Bosse said, he received more than 100 calls from people interested in learning more about the case.

“I hope this litigation doesn’t get run like a securities transaction or fraud case,” he said. “How it is handled as well as its outcome is very important for the development of animal law.”

Estate planning for animals is another area of the law that has been growing steadily, M. Raymond Bradford Jr., a Bangor attorney, told the group.

Bradford said that he recommends that clients interested in providing for their animals in their wills set up living trusts funded with $5,000 to $10,000 to help care for their pets after they die or if they become unable to care for them. The trusts can be funded in a number of ways using cash, stock or life insurance.

“One of the questions attorneys need to ask is, ‘Have you left any guidance for care?'” Bradford said. “Some instruction around food, diet, daily routines and grooming, as well as compensation for the care give are important.”

He also warns clients that the provisions of their wills and trusts must be considered reasonable by a judge or they could be changed by court order.

On the criminal side of the law, Maine was the first state in the nation to pass a law that allows judges to include animals and livestock in protection-from-abuse orders. That came about after the summer bar meeting two years ago in Bar Harbor when District Court Judge John Romei of Machias wondered aloud if he could include pets in the no-contact provisions of protection from abuse orders.

“The law is working,” said Anne Jordan, commissioner of public safety. But statistics on how often animals are included in protection-from-abuse orders aren’t available.

The state’s top law enforcement official told the lawyers’ group that states across the nation are following Maine’s lead.

Jordan cited national statistics suggesting that 56 percent to 72 percent of women in battering situations don’t leave because of threats of harm to their pets or animals.

Domestic violence shelters throughout the state usually are not able to allow pets to stay with victims who flee abusive situations, she said. Domestic violence advocates, however, have worked with area animal shelters to set up safe harbors and foster care for the pets of victims who flee.

There still is work to be done, according to Meris J. Bickford of the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals. Bickford lobbies the Legislature on behalf of her organization, based in Windham.

What is most needed, she said, is more money for the enforcement of the animal cruelty laws that already are on the books.

The bar association also is considering starting an animal law section that would facilitate the networking of lawyers interested in the field.

The Maine School of Law does not offer a course in animal law, but Bickford said that could change in the near future if grant funding could be found.

Paul Waldau, director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton, Mass., also participated in the panel.