This is a sad story involving a beloved pet. My daughter-in-law owned a Maltese from the time of his birth until his death last year at the age of
20. She had owned this dog since she was a teenager and had a strong emotional attachment to him. After his death, she contracted with a taxidermist, whom she had vetted beforehand, to convert the dog's remains (which had been properly frozen by the vet) so she could keep him preserved. She drove three hours to personally deliver the remains to the taxidermist's home in June 2022, paid the required fee, and was assured by the taxidermist that the preserved remains would be delivered back to her in two to three months.

She never heard back from the taxidermist. After three months had passed,
she called the taxidermist several times, leaving multiple messages on her machine, but calls were never returned. She tried to contact the
taxidermist via email and postal mail, but there was no response. In addition, the website for the taxidermist disappeared at some point during
this period and can no longer be accessed.

She has no idea of what happened with the taxidermist and is unsure of what
to do. The taxidermist was located in South Florida so it is possible she
was affected by the hurricane that passed through that area. The emails and postal mail she has sent have not bounced back or been returned to her. Her husband (my son) wants to sue for damages, not just the few hundred dollars
she spent for the procedure and the apparent loss of the dog's remains, but
for the enormous emotional impact on both of them. Of course if the woman
has died or perhaps gone bankrupt, they're not likely to collect much. I suggested another 3-hour drive back to the taxidermist where they could
knock on the door or perhaps get some clue as to what happened, but neither really has the will to do that. Both realize the likelihood of ever
recovering the dogs remains is slim. I told them I'm not sure if many
lawyers would take the case, but my son still wants to pursue that. Small claims court doesn't seem to interest them.

Any suggestions? Is this the type of case that seems worth pursuing?

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According to Rick <[email protected]>:

Any suggestions? Is this the type of case that seems worth pursuing?

The obvious suggestion is to find someone to go knock on the
taxidermist's door and see what's going on. Either someone's there or
not, if someone's there, either they have the dog or they don't. I
suppose you would hire a private investigator.

From what you've said, the most likely scenario is that something

happened like an illness or a flood, and the business is gone.
Since it's South Florida, home of everything weird, it's not out
of the question that the whole thing was a scam, collect a bunch
of dead pets and prepayments and then disappear. But only a visit
will tell you.

No competent lawyer would take a suit on this basis without at least
finding out if there's anyone to sue.
--
Regards,
John Levine, [email protected], Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

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On 1/27/2023 9:03 PM, micky wrote:

In misc.legal.moderated, on Wed, 25 Jan 2023 22:47:43 -0800 (PST),
"Rick" <[email protected]> wrote:

I
suggested another 3-hour drive back to the taxidermist where they could
knock on the door or perhaps get some clue as to what happened, but neither >> really has the will to do that.

Maybe you can find on the web a pet club, a dog club with a bulletin
board you can write to for a volunteer to go there. A dog park nearby
with a website listing a couple email addresses, and ask for a favor,
one dog lover to another.

A pet accessory store with a physical bulletin board might put a note up
for you, or join a forum in the city 3 hours away.

You might contact a local TV, radio, or newspaper to see if they have a
person who handles consumer complaints to check on the business.
Another contact would be the local chamber of commerce.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

In misc.legal.moderated, on Wed, 25 Jan 2023 22:47:43 -0800 (PST),
"Rick" <[email protected]> wrote:

I
suggested another 3-hour drive back to the taxidermist where they could
knock on the door or perhaps get some clue as to what happened, but neither >really has the will to do that.

Maybe you can find on the web a pet club, a dog club with a bulletin
board you can write to for a volunteer to go there. A dog park nearby
with a website listing a couple email addresses, and ask for a favor,
one dog lover to another.

A pet accessory store with a physical bulletin board might put a note up
for you, or join a forum in the city 3 hours away.




--
I think you can tell, but just to be sure:
I am not a lawyer.

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"Roy" wrote in message news:tr2ahu$2394t$[email protected]...

On 1/27/2023 9:03 PM, micky wrote:

In misc.legal.moderated, on Wed, 25 Jan 2023 22:47:43 -0800 (PST),
"Rick" <[email protected]> wrote:

I
suggested another 3-hour drive back to the taxidermist where they could
knock on the door or perhaps get some clue as to what happened, but
neither
really has the will to do that.

Maybe you can find on the web a pet club, a dog club with a bulletin
board you can write to for a volunteer to go there. A dog park nearby
with a website listing a couple email addresses, and ask for a favor,
one dog lover to another.

A pet accessory store with a physical bulletin board might put a note up
for you, or join a forum in the city 3 hours away.

You might contact a local TV, radio, or newspaper to see if they have a >person who handles consumer complaints to check on the business. Another >contact would be the local chamber of commerce.

Those are all good suggestions. I will pass them along. Thanks!

--

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