Adv. Gill Nadel, Kedar Halali
Recently, the court obliged an importer of puppies from Uzbekistan to pay over 100,000 NIS to the "Let Animals Live" (Tnu L'Chayot Lichyot) foundation, for various expenses that the foundation bore after the puppies were imported to Israel.
The facts of the case and the claims of the parties:
The importer referred to the Veterinary Services requesting permission to import 38 puppies of various types from Uzbekistan to Israel. The importer was issued an animal import license, together with a few conditions one of them being that the puppies must be older than 3 months, as younger puppies cannot be vaccinated for rabies.
Soon after that, the puppies were flown to Israel, most of them (35 out of 38) younger than 3 months. The Director of Veterinary Services decided that in light of the concern that they might be infected with rabies, the puppies should be flown back to their country of origin (Uzbekistan).
Since it was impossible to fly them that day, the puppies were put into a container in the cargo terminal warehouses for five days, until the date of their return flight. The conditions in which they were held in the container were poor, without heating or ability to exit, leaving them crouching in their own waste and passing diseases to one another, making their condition worse and worse. While in the cage, some of the puppies died.
The case came to the attention of the "Let Animals Live" foundation, and in cooperation with it, the puppies were transferred to a veterinary clinic. Later, the puppies were returned after treatment so that they could be flown back to Uzbekistan.
The "Let Animals Live" foundation turned to court requesting an injunction preventing the puppies from being returned to Uzbekistan, claiming that the four hour flight, in light of what the puppies went through, would be abuse. The dogs were transferred by court order to a veterinary hospital, for ongoing medical treatment, and there they were diagnosed as suffering from PARVO. Another group of them died. After another month of treatments, the puppies recovered from their illness. In the end, the puppies remained in quarantine and in the dog houses for three and a half months, while the foundation bore part of the expenses for their treatment, and the importer paid around 13,500 NIS.
After the quarantine period, the importer received the puppies left alive, 24 all in all, and sold them for around 2000 NIS per puppy.
In the action infront of us, the foundation sued the importer for refund of expenses of around 110,000 NIS expended on treating the puppies. It claimed that the complications of the puppies' medical condition was due to the conduct of the importer who imported puppies under the age of 3 months to Israel and did not care to properly tend to their needs while in the cargo terminal. The foundation further claimed that as part of the conditions for the license issued to the defendant to import the puppies, he was obliged to bear all expenses while the puppies remained in quarantine, and therefore he ought to be charged of this sum.
The importer denied the foundation's claims and claimed that the foundation had been negligent in caring for the dogs, and filed a counter-suit for around 135,000 NIS, claiming that he was caused losses because of the deaths of 38 puppies, and loss of profits for sale of 24 puppies at a lower price due to their more advanced age, owing to the period they spent in quarantine.
The Court's Decision:
The court ruled that the chain of events was as following: On the flight, 37 living puppies and 1 dead puppy arrived. 4 more puppies died in the container at the cargo terminal, and thus 33 puppies reached the veterinary hospital. The puppies showed symptoms of the Parvo disease, which some of them had contracted while still in Uzbekistan and some had caught from the others while in the cargo terminal. In the veterinary hospital, another 9 puppies died, despite the dedicated treatment they received, leaving 24 puppies alive, which were returned to the importer for sale. The court ruled that all the puppies were imported in violation of the conditions of the license (because of their young age and their disease) and therefore the importer violated his obligations.
The court rejected the importer's claims, and ruled that the chain of events proved that the foundation did not in any way make the puppies' condition worse, but on the contrary, was responsible for the fact that the puppies remained in Israel and received the best possible treatment. The court further ruled that the foundation was right to strive and keep the puppies in Israel, since the flight back to their country of origin would have caused them additional distress.
The court ruled that the foundation acted as the importer should have acted in the first place, that is to act in every possible way to prevent abuse of the puppies and to cater to their mental and medical needs. More so, part of the conditions that were made when the license to import puppies was issued , was that the importer bear all the costs while the puppies were in quarantine.
In light of the above, the court accepted the foundation's suit entirely and obliged the importer to pay around 110,000 NIS, as well as legal expenses and attorney's fees of 17,000 NIS, plus VAT and simultaneously rejected the importer's action.
(CA 29859/06 "Let Animals Live" Foundation v. Ya'akov Seidenberg, decision issued 26.10.10, Judge Einat Ravid. Advocates: for "Let Animals Live"- Adv. Gechman for the importer- Adv. Feller.)
עדכוני מכס ורגולציה
