Legal Question in Business Law in California

in california, is a contract signed releasing all liabilities of one of the parties- a dog rescue "non-profit" (registration not up to date with the ca doj's charitable registry), that has no business license or kennel permit, and has not filed their form 990's with the irs for several years- be enforcable in a lawsuit against them ? our neighbor adopted a dog that killed one of our dogs and bit off my husband's finger, as well as bit my ear within 3 hours of bringing it home. the rescue clasims in all their literature that they do home checks prior to approving the placement. they failed to do so, and the home was obviously unsuitable- they have a cat, and the ads for the dog all clearly stated "NO SMALL DOGS OR CATS". i had contacted them myself, feigning interest in adopting the dog, and the reply directly addressed that the dog had gone after smaller animals before. this isn't the only complaint against this organization for their deceptive adoption practices. our lawyer says that since the neighbor had signed this agreement, accepting all responsibility for the dog and his acts, we are unable to go after the rescue. if they are not lawfully conducting this business, haven't they forfeited the protections given to law-abiding and compliant businesses, by the enforcement of the contract ? wouldn't that deem it null and void ?


Asked on 6/28/12, 7:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

The contract is between the dog-rescue place and your neighbor, isn't it?. If so, its provisions have no effect on you. Whether you have a good cause of action for suit against the dog-rescue establishment or not is another matter, but the contract provisions are totally immaterial.

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Answered on 6/28/12, 8:56 pm


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