How to Write Pet Sale Contracts

I am constantly amazed by how many people do not put essential information in their pet contracts when selling their animals. Whether you sell dogs, cats or horses - there is some essential wording you must have in your contract to protect yourself. Ultimately having a contract written by an attorney is best; but if you must write your own contract - be sure to cover essential basics.

Filing of Lawsuits

Establish where any law suits arising from the contract can be filed. For example: all lawsuits arising from this contract must be filed in the county of Licking and the state of Ohio. (insert your own county and state) If you do not insert this in your contract you can be sued out of state or hundreds of miles away. This can result in more money and time spent to defend yourself.

Guarantees

Any contract quarantee must give a consequence of what will happen should the guarantee be invoked. For example: if your contract states that a puppy sold is guaranteed to be breeding sound; you must give the resolution if the puppy is later found not breeding sound. A good example would be to add a sentence such as "if the puppy is deemed to be unfit for breeding by a licensed veterinarian, the buyer will be issued a kennel credit for the purchase price of the puppy." Be very wary of issuing a health guarantee. Because they are live animals anything can happen at anytime. Once an animal leaves your care you have no control over how it is fed or cared for. Never guarantee the health of an animal once the animal leaves your premises.

Keep it simple

Do not get caught up in lengthy useless paragraphs. The less wording the better. Too many people make their pet contracts so long that they inadvertently set themselves up for a lawsuit. Keep to the basics of price, payments, transfer of the animal, guarantees and consequences. Having attended real estate contract law classes the main thing I learned was that less is definitely more.

Payments

Many pet contracts include the terms for the buyer to make a down payment plus monthly payments. Unfortunately, I have had many friends that forget to put what the consequence is if a payment is late or returned for non-sufficient funds. This must be clearly outlined in your contract. For example: The buyer will be charged a $25. late charge if the monthly payment is made more than three days late. The buyer also agrees to pay a $100. bad check fee for any checks returned to the seller due to non-sufficient funds.

Keep in mind that anything can be written into a contract and as long as two people sign it - it becomes a legal binding document. Should you ever have to go to court to defend your pet contract, the judge is always going to refer to "what did the contract say?"

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