Cat Champion Corp. v. Primrose

149 P.3d 1276, 210 Or. App. 206, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 2004
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 27, 2006
Docket21840; A131082
StatusPublished

This text of 149 P.3d 1276 (Cat Champion Corp. v. Primrose) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cat Champion Corp. v. Primrose, 149 P.3d 1276, 210 Or. App. 206, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 2004 (Or. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

WOLLHEIM, J.

Petitioner Cat Champion Corporation appeals from the trial court’s order denying its petition for a limited protective order regarding respondent’s cats under ORS 125.650. Cat Champion assigns error to the court’s determination that it lacked statutory authority to enter the protective order. We review de novo a trial court’s decision to appoint a fiduciary under ORS chapter 125. ORS 19.415(3). See Grimmett v. Brooks, 193 Or App 427, 429, 89 P3d 1238 (2004) (applying de novo review to the trial court’s order appointing a conservator under ORS chapter 125). To the extent that the trial court’s denial of Cat Champion’s petition was a legal conclusion that it lacked statutory authority to enter the order, we review the court’s interpretation of ORS chapter 125 for errors of law. See Shin v. Sunriver Preparatory School, Inc., 199 Or App 352, 372, 111 P3d 762, rev den, 339 Or 406 (2005) (questions of statutory interpretation are reviewed for errors of law). We hold that the trial court erred in concluding that it lacked statutory authority to enter the order. We reverse the trial court’s order, and remand for entry of the protective order.

The facts are undisputed. In July 2004, the Tlrm County Sheriffs Department responded to a veterinarian’s report that respondent Jean Marie Primrose was neglecting her cats. When the sheriffs deputies arrived at Primrose’s trailer, they found thin, underfed, and filthy cats that were missing patches of hair. The deputies seized 11 cats and relinquished custody of the animals to Cat Champion, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of cats.

As a result of that incident, Primrose was charged with criminal animal neglect in the second degree, ORS 167.325. In January 2005, the trial court dismissed those charges after a psychological evaluation concluded that Primrose was unable to aid and assist in her own defense, due to her cognitive impairment.

Dismissal of the criminal charges placed Cat Champion in a difficult position. Cat Champion has maintained custody and care of Primrose’s 11 cats since they were seized [209]*209in 2004. Through the time that Cat Champion filed its petition, it had incurred expenses in the amount of $32,510 to provide food, veterinary care, and boarding for the cats. Pursuant to ORS 87.159, Cat Champion has a lien for its reasonable expenses in caring for the animals and can retain possession of the cats until Primrose satisfies that debt. However, because Primrose was not convicted of a crime for mistreating the cats, they were not forfeited, ORS 167.350(1), and Primrose remains their rightful owner. As a result, unless the court enters an order to the contrary, Cat Champion lacks statutory authority to permanently place the cats in adoptive homes. Without such an order, Cat Champion has two options: It can keep the cats and continue to incur a debt against Primrose for its expenses in caring for them; or it can return the cats to Primrose, who Cat Champion believes is incapable of properly caring for the animals.

In July 2005, Cat Champion sought to remedy the situation by filing a petition for a limited protective order regarding Primrose’s cats pursuant to ORS 125.650. Cat Champion asked the court to appoint it as Primrose’s fiduciary for the “limited purpose of providing for the continued physical care and the legal, permanent placement of [Primrose’s] cats.” In essence, Cat Champion sought authority to permanently place Primrose’s cats in adoptive homes. Cat Champion asserts that a protective order is in Primrose’s best interest, because it has agreed to first apply any adoption fees it collects against Primrose’s $32,510 debt and then to forgive the remaining debt.

Although Primrose did not appear in response to Cat Champion’s petition, after having been served with summons, the court refused to issue the requested order because it was “unpersuaded that such an Order [was] authorized by existing law.” The court concluded that “nothing in ORS Chapter 125 authorizes this Probate Court to permanently divest Ms. Primrose of her personal property, to-wit: her cats.”

On appeal, Cat Champion asserts that the court erred in construing ORS 125.650. It argues that ORS 125.650 grants the court authority to enter a protective order and to appoint Cat Champion as a fiduciary for the limited purpose [210]*210of permanently placing Primrose’s cats in adoptive homes. We agree.

ORS 125.650 provides, in part:

“(1) The court may enter protective orders without the appointment of a fiduciary or in addition to appointment of a fiduciary. A petition for a protective order that does not seek the appointment of a fiduciary is subject to all requirements prescribed for petitions for appointment of a fiduciary. A court may enter a protective order other than appointment of a fiduciary only upon a determination that grounds exist for the appointment of a fiduciary.
“(2) In issuing protective orders under this section, the court may exercise any power that could be exercised by a guardian or conservator in a protective proceeding, or any power that could be exercised by the court in a protective proceeding in which a fiduciary is appointed.
* * * *
“(4) The court may appoint a fiduciary whose authority is limited to a specified time and whose power is limited to certain acts needed to implement the protective order. A fiduciary appointed under this subsection need only make such report to the court as the court may require.”

(Emphasis added.)

Pursuant to ORS 125.650(1), the court has authority to enter a protective order only if it finds that “grounds exist for the appointment of a fiduciary,” even if the court does not appoint a fiduciary. Determining what is required to establish that “grounds exist for the appointment of a fiduciary” under ORS 125.650 is a question of statutory construction which requires that we discern the legislature’s intent. To ascertain the legislative intent of the statute, we apply the methodology of PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or 606, 610-12, 859 P2d 1143 (1993). Pursuant to that methodology, we begin by analyzing the text of the statute in context and, if necessary, resort to legislative history and maxims of statutory construction. Id.

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Related

Shin v. Sunriver Preparatory School, Inc.
111 P.3d 762 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2005)
Portland General Electric Co. v. Bureau of Labor & Industries
859 P.2d 1143 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1993)
Grimmett v. Brooks
89 P.3d 1238 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
149 P.3d 1276, 210 Or. App. 206, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 2004, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cat-champion-corp-v-primrose-orctapp-2006.