More than 100 people in Colorado have committed to join a class-action lawsuit against the maker of pet food that was tainted and led to the deaths of pets nationwide.
Denver lawyer Jennifer Thomaidis, who filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Denver last month, said she has received about 200 inquiries from Coloradans whose pets have either died or suffered permanent damage from the tainted pet food.
She said she is seeking $5 million in damages, which would be an unprecedented award anywhere. Most laws, including those in Colorado, consider pets property, meaning owners may not be entitled to damages for emotional pain and suffering.
“They are more than just property. They certainly are not just a chair,” Thomaidis said. “Pets are much more valuable to people than that, but it’s a gray area of the law.”
Key for the plaintiffs will be whether the court changes its stance and rules that people are considered pet guardians, rather than owners. That could allow them to recover money for pain and suffering.
But courts around the country have had little sympathy when it comes to defining people as guardians instead of owners. Rarely, if ever, have they awarded damages for pain and suffering.
Arthur Best, a law professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, said getting an award for pain and suffering in this case will be difficult.
Owners may be awarded money for veterinarian bills and the actual cost of the pet. But Best said the law almost everywhere defines pets as property.
“For the individual pet owners to get large amounts of damages in these cases, various state supreme courts would have to make substantial changes in their tort laws,” Best said. “That’s not likely to happen.”
Thomaidis’ lawsuit was filed on behalf of Emily Tompkins against Canada-based pet-food maker Menu Foods and its subsidiaries. Tompkins’ cat, Grover, died in March after eating tainted pet food.
Contaminated wheat gluten caused 16 confirmed deaths, although many suspect the number of deaths related to tainted food is much higher.
The suit is on hold as judicial officials in Washington decide where they will hear the lawsuits filed nationwide.
Ian White and Stephanie Monfelt of Denver have signed on to join Tompkins’ suit. The couple lost their pug dog, Missie, in April after she ate some of the canned dog food that was recalled.
Soon after Missie ate the food, they say, she became lethargic, then vomited frequently.
“Something wasn’t quite right,” White said.
A week later, Missie died from acute renal failure.
Someone from Kansas who heard about what happened gave them another pug named Tommy. But it’s not the same, White and Monfelt said.
White said Missie was a part of the family. He took the dog to work with him. Missie would greet the kids when they came home from school. A bookcase at their home holds memories of the dog, including a frame with Missie’s paw print, a clip of her fur and a prayer written inside with a cross hanging over the frame. Her ashes are kept on the shelf inside a wooden urn with Missie’s picture on the outside.
“There was never a moment when Missie wasn’t around,” White said. “She was so much part of our lives.”
Staff writer Carlos Illescas can be reached at 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com.
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Pet-food meetings
At issue: Meetings for those interested in joining a pet-food lawsuit or seeking an update on the recall
Date: Thursday
Time: 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Site: 650 S. Cherry St., Denver
