Disagreement on compensation for dog returns to court

Disagreement over the compensation for the death of a Tibetan mastiff during plastic surgery, which was previously set at 450,000 yuan ($73,554), brought the dog owner and the animal hospital concerned to the Beijing No 3 Intermediate People's Court on Thursday, Beijing News reported.

The dog owner, surnamed Yu, owns a pets farm in Beijing. Yu said he bought the Tibetan mastiff in 2012 for the farm for 880,000 yuan. He noticed there was something wrong with the left side of the dog's face, and sent it for plastic surgery at an animal hospital in Beijing. The dog died during the operation because of the misuse of anesthetic.

Yu sued the hospital at Tongzhou district court in January 2013, showing a receipt to prove the purchase price for the dog was 880,000 yuan. The court ruled that the hospital should take full responsibility for the dog’s death and pay compensation of 450,000 yuan.

The animal hospital filed an appeal with the court.

Li, who is in charge of the hospital, was agitated by the decision.

"When a miner dies during a mine accident, the compensation is no more than 300,000 yuan," he argued loudly in court. "A dog is more valuable than a person?"

The court had not ruled by press time.

Liu Lang, an expert from the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association, said that if a large sum of compensation is supported by the court, it might mean a huge blow for the veterinary industry.