Court Opinion

ID: 9583278
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:36:54.833256+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:38:55.053704
License: Public Domain

*419Beasley, Judge,
concurring specially.
In this case where the dog owner lost his dog because he did not act promptly, I simply wish to point out the following:
1. The justification for refusing discovery here is not only to protect the adopter from harassment, which could often be a reason for refusing discovery in many contexts, but rather that the information sought is irrelevant to the issues in the case. The question is whether defendant had a right to dispose of the dog, not who it gave the dog to. If it did have that right, that is the end of it. If it did not have that right, it would have to get the dog back or pay for it. In no event is the adopter’s identity necessary.
2. As to the complaint about due process of law, i.e., that sufficient notice was not given: the scheme provides for notice, and what happened here complied with it. That is to say, the owner will have direct notice if he tags the dog as he is required to do; also, a general newspaper ad is run daily. Moreover, an owner is disobeying the law by allowing a dog to escape and not to be on a leash. Here the owner gave no justification for the dog’s being at large. Certainly the newspaper ad is more likely to be seen by the owner of a lost dog than would a notice pinned on the bulletin board outside the courthouse door.