Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida

Breach of Contract, What are Damages?

I am the founder of a small non-

profit animal rescue. Adopters

complete a written contract which

states that the animal must be

returned to the rescue and under no

circumstances will the animal be

relinquished to (county

run) Animal Services at a future

date. However, one of our previously

adopted dogs has been surrendered

to AS. Animal Services does not

recognize the rescue as having any

claim to ownership of the animal and

will not release it to the rescue. As a

result, the dog will most likely be

euthanized. I believe that the

contract is enforcable (without going

into details), but in order to file a

claim, there must be damages... It is

very sad that the dog will lose its life

(unless the animal is placed up for

adoption - which is highly unlikely --

her status is yet to be determined),

despite the obvious breach of

contract. Any ideas on recourse in a

situation like this? I would be

interested in filing a lawsuit more to

establish precedence/case law than

to collect damages. Rescues forfeit

their rights

when they assume ''nothing can be

done.'' We don't rescue animals to

see them put to sleep because of

irresponsible people. Thanks.

1 Answer from Attorneys

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