How Legal Are Pet Contracts You Sign When You Buy a Pet?

Pet overpopulation is a large concern in the United States, where thousands of healthy animals are euthanized each year due to the lack of homes. Pet contracts are designed to make sure that pets do not wind up in a bad situation after being sold to their new owners. The legality of these contracts varies greatly and is influenced by a wide assortment of factors.

  1. Contract Basics

    • A contract is a document that is signed by both parties agreeing to a specific set of terms or rules. Both parties should sign the contract in the presence of a notary or a witness for the contract to be considered truly valid. The contract cannot be changed after it's signed, and both parties should receive copies of the contract at the time at which it's signed.

    Legality

    • Contracts need to adhere to state and local laws. The most effective contracts are those that were created by an attorney especially for the organization that's using them with a specific purpose in mind. Contracts that are drawn up by untrained individuals can be less legally binding because they don't meet basic state or local requirements, violate existing laws, feature bad or confusing wording or are just generally too bizarre to hold up in a court of law.

    The Pet Contract

    • Pet contracts range from pretty basic forms requiring the owner to get the pet basic veterinary care and provide shelter, to extremely long documents full of rules and clauses regarding the care of the animal. Some contracts state that the person buying or adopting the animal does not ever become the real owner, leaving official ownership with the party they purchased the animal from. The primary purpose of pet contracts is to make sure pets are cared for, but some of these documents have rules that can get very confusing if a conflict occurs between the person who purchased the animal and the party that sold it.

    Damages

    • If the person who purchased an animal is accused by the seller of breaching the contract, the issue will have to go to court and be decided by a judge. The judge will evaluate the contract, listen to both sides of the story and make a decision as to whether or not the contract has been violated. If the judge feels the contract has been broken, the judge can then determine what type of restitution needs to happen. Breaking a pet contract is a civil matter that stays in civil court rather than criminal. These issues often wind up in small claims court, and people who break the contract often face relatively minor punishment for their crimes. It is fairly common for the person who broke the contract to be required to give the animal back or pay a fine.