Morgan v. Kroupa case brief

Morgan v. Kroupa case brief summary
Vermont 

FACTS
owner lost dog and made all notifications. 2 weeks after being lost the Morgan’s found the dog and made all notifications to find right full owner.


o 1 yr after losing animal found out that Morgan may have it.

o Kroupa went to Morgan’s house; dog jumped in back of Kroupa’s truck.

o Morgans brought to suit to replevin the dog.

o Court found several ways of looking at the situation:

- Lost property statute

i. Substantial compliance w/statute = possession of dog.

ii. Only applies to farm animals of value, not domestic animals. Economic vs. noneconomic value

iii.

- Best interests of dog standard (analogy to child custody)

i. Ct unable to determine based on dog’s emotional attachment to parties.

- Emotional attachments of involved parties

- Standard used and ROL: where the finder of a lost pet makes a reasonable effort to locate its owner, and responsibly cares for the animal over a reasonably extensive period of time, the finder may acquire possession of the animal