PETCO ANIMAL SUPPLIES, INC. V. SCHUSTER
144 S.W. 3d 554 (2004)
NATURE OF THE CASE: Petco (D) sought review from a judgment which awarded damages to
Schuster (P), dog owner, arising from her dog's death after it escaped from a groomer
employed by D and was run over in traffic. The trial court entered a default judgment
against D and awarded multiple types of damages.
FACTS: P brought her fourteen-month-old miniature schnauzer, Licorice, to a D store in
Austin to be groomed. As P was returning to the store to pick up Licorice, she saw the dog
running away from the store through the surrounding high-traffic area. P learned that
Licorice had slipped her leash and run away from a D employee who had taken the dog outside
for a bathroom break. P and D employees searched for Licorice for four days until,
tragically, the dog was found dead, having been run over by traffic. P sued D for breach of
contract, gross negligence, and conversion. D did not answer, and P took a default judgment
and then offered evidence to support a range of unliquidated damages. P testified that
Licorice's replacement value was $500.00, that she had incurred $892.00 to send Licorice to
training school and $52.40 for microchip implantation, and that she had lost $857.68 in
wages while missing work to search for Licorice. P also testified that she had experienced a
total of $645,000 in mental anguish while searching for Licorice and after learning of the
dog's death, as well as $160 in counseling costs. P also asked the district court to award
$280,000 in damages for 'loss of companionship of Licorice.' She additionally requested $1
million in exemplary damages, plus attorney fees. The district court awarded Schuster the
following damages: $500.00 as the replacement value of Licorice; $892.00 as reimbursement
costs of putting Licorice through training school; $52.40 as reimbursement for microchip
implantation; $857.68 as lost wages for Schuster when she was searching for Licorice;
$160.00 as counseling costs; $10,000 as compensation to Schuster for mental anguish and
emotional distress; $10,000 as compensation for ''intrinsic value'' loss of companionship';
$10,000 as exemplary damages; and $6,750 as attorney's fees (with more allowed for any
appeals taken). The court expressed skepticism that any damages beyond replacement value for
Licorice were properly recoverable. D filed a notice of appeal on June 11, 2003, over 40
days after the judgment was signed. D contends that Texas law does not support any award for
mental anguish and related counseling, loss of companionship, or lost wages for the loss of
a dog; there was no evidence of conduct by Petco to support imposition of exemplary damages;
the attorney's fee award, which was based upon forty-five hours of work by D's attorney at
$150 per hour, was excessive; and (4) the district court erroneously awarded both breach of
contract and tort damages for the same injury, the loss of Licorice.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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