Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. v. Schuster

144 S.W. 3d 554 (2004)

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Nature of the Case

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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.