We Wrote to Oprah!

I dictated and Mom translated, edited and pushed the "send" button.

You all know I've been stewing over this court ruling. One of my friends on another group suggests that we all write to Oprah, since she's an animal lover and she would definitely understand our outrage.

I wrote the Oprah Show. This is what I said (pretty much):

On July 31, 2009, the California 4th District Appellate Court, Div 3, ruled that a woman wasn't entitled to be compensated for the loss of her 5-year old pet that died as a result of "alleged" negligence by a veterinarian. The last paragraph of the ruling reads: "We recognize the love and loyalty a dog provides creates a strong emotional bond between an owner and his or her dog. But given California law does not allow parents to recover for the loss of companionship of their children, we are constrained not to allow a pet owner to recover for loss of the companionship of a pet. Accordingly, we conclude the trial court did not err in striking McMahon's loss of companionship allegations." This would appear to include human children as well as pets.

The full ruling and (lack of) reasoning can be found at McMahon vs Craig . Similar rulings from other states are found here .

I think this is outrageous and merely allows the heavily lobbied veterinary interests to continue to operate without assuming responsibility. Help!

If you want to get involved, please write Oprah at Contact Us - Oprah.com.

Thank you.

Mary-Margaret O'Brien
Local Union Representative for WAYOUT*

(*Worldwide Association of Yorkies Opposed to Unfair Treatment)