· Veterinary malpractice: just like with medical care for persons, sometimes veterinary care goes horribly wrong.  Not all bad results are malpractice; doctors are people too and sometimes they make mistakes.  However, if your vet did or did not do something that any other vet of ordinary competence in your area would have done differently, that could be actionable.

· Animal cruelty: if someone seriously harms your companion animal, traditional legal remedies limited your recovery to market value.  That means about $40 if you got your companion from a shelter.  Recent improvements to Illinois law acknowledge that such a family member is worth more than a purchase price.

· Boarding or grooming problems: if you bring in a live, healthy animal to be boarded or groomed (or any other service) in exchange for a fee, the service provider is supposed to return your companion alive and healthy. 

· Condominium/landlord-tenant/zoning disputes: unfortunately, individuals sometimes move into, and even purchase, housing – where their companion animals are perfectly legal – only to be informed years later that the companion animals are no longer welcome.  Residents who don’t know their rights will not know whether they are being told the truth that they either have to get rid of their animals or move altogether.

· Consumer fraud: this happens when a business misrepresents or omits an important fact, with the intent that you rely on those statements, during the regular course of business, and causes you financial injury.  One area in which the legislature has recently acted specifically to address this problem is in the companion animal cremation industry. 

· Contractual disputes: like consumer fraud, contracts arise in many situations.  Disputes are perhaps most common with purchases.  If you buy a car and it doesn’t work, the law provides a remedy.  But what if your puppy is a “lemon”?  Or the seller is only willing to exchange the animal (which by now is a family member to you, not merchandise) but not reimburse for veterinary and other bills?

· Custody battles: divorce is generally difficult enough; for couples with companion animals it can be even tougher.  That’s because the law does not recognize the emotional bonds people form with their companions. Some courts have even compared requests for visitation with a dog to asking for visitation with a lamp.  This makes it even more important to find an advocate who understands and appreciates those bonds.    

· Dog bites: if a neighbor child harasses your dog and the dog bites back, the child is told not to harass dogs anymore but your family member could be at risk for being put to death.

· Estate planning: if you leave everything to your cat, traditional trust law could not stop relatives you never knew you had from euthanizing your cat and using your money to take a vacation instead.  Here too, the law is evolving to give testators greater security that their wishes will be honored.

· Federal & state constitutional issues: This includes notions such as due process, your property rights and the fundamental fairness to which you are entitled with respect to your animal.  It also encompasses the concept of whether animals themselves should have “standing,” in other words be allowed (through a guardian, much like a minor or incapacitated person) to redress their own grievances under the legal system. This is what is generally referred to as “animal rights.” 

There are also many other types of legal issues that affect creatures other than companion animals.  If you live near an area that holds deer hunts, or work on a farm or in a lab and have seen animals treated in disturbing ways, you may be able to use the law to try to stop these practices.