Attorney: Clients have standing to sue in Slobber Shoppe case

FORT COLLINS — The attorney for Slobber Shoppe LLC and Western Skies Animal Rehabilitation LLC said that her clients “have clearly established that they have standing” and have suffered damages as a result of alleged mishandling of pet remains by Precious Memories Pet Cemetery & Crematory Inc.

She asked Larimer County District Court to rule against a motion for dismissal filed by Precious Memories in a dispute over how pet remains were handled.

Slobber Shoppe, also known as Edwards Veterinary Care and Western Skies, which does business as Western Skies End-of-Life Veterinary Care, both of Windsor, filed a lawsuit Jan. 26 against Precious Memories. It claimed that Precious Memories “failed to provide services as advertised and invoiced.”

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Specifically, the lawsuit alleged that “defendants suppressed information and failed to disclose … that the crematory mishandled animals accepted by the crematory by engaging in … separate cremations when private cremations were requested, providing clay paw prints of animals other than those requested, disposing of animals at a landfill when general group cremations were requested, burying animals in mass graves when general group cremations were requested, and disposing bodies and ashes of animals at a landfill when on-site scattering services were advertised and requested.”

Precious Memories responded March 1 saying that the two veterinary practices lacked standing to file suit because even if the incidents alleged were true, the clinics did not own the animals involved.

Alexa McKay, attorney for the vet clinics, said ownership of the animals doesn’t matter in determination of standing, because the clinics contracted for the services that were not completed as ordered and thus “suffered an injury-in-fact and … harm to a legally protected interest.”

She also said until discovery is conducted, her clients do not have access to specific records held by Precious Memories. “Only defendant and its employees … would have concrete knowledge of which specific pets were mishandled…,” she said.

Messages sent to attorneys for Precious Memories were not responded to as of publication time today.

The case is Slobber Shoppe LLC dba Edwards Veterinary Care and Western Skies Animal Rehabilitation LLC dba Western Skies End-of-Life Veterinary Care versus Precious Memories Pet Cemetery & Crematory Inc., case number 2024cv30072 filed Jan. 26, 2024, in Larimer County District Court.