File-This file photo shows Charlie Holt, owner of WHSY talk radio. A federal appeals court has ruled that a legal fight over a lost dog could continue in Mississippi, even after the dog’s owner has died. The dispute is over a German shepherd named Max who jumped out a window and escaped from his owner’s Hattiesburg home in 2015. Max got loose when people were providing medical help to his owner, Holt, who had fallen and could not get up. (Charles Holt/Hattiesburg American via AP)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that a legal fight over a lost dog could continue in Mississippi, even after the dog’s owner has died.
The dispute is over a German shepherd named Max who jumped out a window and escaped from his owner’s Hattiesburg home in 2015. Max got loose when people were providing medical help to his owner, Charles Holt, who had fallen and could not get up.
Holt was more than 90 years old at the time. He was hospitalized after the fall.
Max was captured weeks after he escaped, and he was impounded in an animal shelter. More weeks passed before Holt was notified that his dog was in the shelter, according to court papers. When Holt tried to reclaim his dog, the shelter refused, based on orders from the city.
A city court judge ordered the shelter to keep Max because the dog allegedly posed a threat to the people taking care of Holt. A county court judge later agreed with that decision.
Holt then filed a federal lawsuit saying the city had deprived him of his property, Max, without due process. A district court judge threw out his claim, and Holt appealed.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that although Holt has died, questions about his property claim survive. The appeals court sent it back to a district court for the possibility of further consideration.
“Dogs are considered property under Mississippi law,” the appeals court noted.
The appeals court did not say whether Max is still alive.
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
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