A newly bought pet cat died of feline plague within a few days of being brought home. Does the pet store know that the pet cat is sick and still sell it without notifying it? A few days ago, Mr. He sued the pet store operator to the court for compensation. The Liwan District People's Court recently disclosed the verdict of the case.

Case review

In April 2020, Mr. He purchased two ragdoll cats, a male and a female, born about 3 months old, at a pet park in Guangzhou, and paid 5800 Yuan. Just a few days after the purchase, Mr. He found that the two ragdoll cats had diarrhea and vomiting, and hurriedly sent them back to the pet garden for treatment. A few days later, the store told him that the female ragdoll had died.

How come the cat suddenly fell ill and died just a few days later? Mr. He sent the dead female cat to a qualified pet hospital for testing, and found that the cat had feline distemper virus. Cat plague is a virus, which is an acute infectious disease. It has an incubation period of only 2 to 9 days and a high mortality rate. (My) pet cat has the same symptoms as the infection of cat plague. Mr. He was heartbroken and angry. , then sued Xie Mou and Zhang Mou, the operators of the pet garden, to the court, asking the other party to return the 3,800 yuan for the purchase of the pet female cat and compensate the testing fee of 100 yuan.

Legal Provisions

Article 7 of the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that businesses operating pets should ensure the health of pets and provide quarantine certificates. However, due to the uncontrollability of time and space for pets to contract the virus, and there will be a corresponding time interval for symptoms after infection, based on the principle of fairness, businesses that sell pets should undertake the obligation to guarantee the health of pets within a certain period of time. .

The Civil Code will come into effect on January 1, 2021. Article 148 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China stipulates that if one party uses fraudulent means to cause the other party to commit a civil juristic act contrary to its true will, the defrauded party has the right to request the people's court or arbitration institution to revoke it.

Article 157 stipulates that after a civil juristic act is invalid, revoked or determined not to take effect, the property acquired by the actor due to the act shall be returned; , should be compensated at a discount. The party at fault shall compensate the other party for the losses suffered thereby; if both parties are at fault, they shall each bear corresponding responsibilities. If the law provides otherwise, such provisions shall be followed.

Judgment of the Court

Judgment Tang Yandi of the First Civil Division of Liwan Court stated that in accordance with the principle of non-retroactivity of law, civil cases before the Civil Code came into force should be handled in accordance with the law in effect when the case was accepted. According to Article 7 of the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China, in this case, the ragdoll cat purchased by the consumer developed symptoms on the fifth day and died as a result. In view of the fact that the merchant did not issue the animal quarantine certificate to the consumer when selling the puppet cat, and considering that the cat distemper generally has an incubation period of 2 to 9 days, the consumer's request for the merchant to refund the purchase price of the puppet cat is supported. .

The judge suggested that if consumers want to buy pets, they should try to choose regular merchants with complete qualifications and clear after-sales guarantees.