Fort Collins pet crematory seeks dismissal of lawsuit

A Fort Collins pet cemetery and crematory that was accused of mishandling pet remains has asked an 8th Judicial District Court judge to dismiss the case.

Precious Memories Pet Cemetery & Crematory Inc., which was sued Jan. 26 by two Weld County-based veterinary clinics, said in its response and motion for dismissal that the two clinics lacked standing to file the lawsuit, have not shown that they were damaged and that they failed to identify any instance of fraud.

The original lawsuit claimed that Precious Memories improperly disposed of pets, did not follow through with agreements to segregate pet remains and supplied pet paw prints from animals other than those of the pet specified.

“Defendant vehemently denies the allegations … however even if the allegations are accepted as true, plaintiffs’ complaint must be dismissed,” Precious Memories attorney wrote in a response filed March 1.

The veterinary clinics lack standing because they have not suffered an injury although “plaintiff clients might have suffered a wrong and have standing to assert a claim” if the allegations were true, the response said.

Also, “the complaint fails to identify a single fraudulent transaction” and “the complaint does not plausibly allege that they suffered damages.”

“Plaintiffs do not allege that they financially benefited from referring their clients to defendant. Plaintiffs do not allege that they owned any of the animals sent to defendant. Plaintiffs do not allege that they have lost business due to their relationship with the defendant,” Precious Moments said.

The company asked the court to dismiss the case with prejudice and award attorney fees.

A request for a comment sent to plaintiff Dayna Edwards, who operates Slobber Shoppe LLC and does business as Edwards Veterinary Care, resulted in a referral to the attorney handling the case. Alexa Mckay from that firm said her response would be filed with the court, but “we dispute the characterizations in their motion.”

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.