cover image Legal Beagle

Legal Beagle

Linda A. Cawley. New Horizon, $21.95 (247pp) ISBN 978-0-88282-146-7

A love of dogs propelled Cawley into a rewarding and unconventional career: she became a ""dog lawyer."" This entertaining account of her practice will delight pet owners. Cawley, who formerly practiced in California and is now based in Colorado, maintains that judges and juries are not sympathetic to cases involving pets, which are regarded as property. It is not surprising that many of her cases are resolved by negotiation. She offers tales of careless pet shop owners, feuding neighbors, shifty breeders, vicious animal-control officers, and pet-custody cases. She helped one client who owned 104 poodles fight a zoning ordinance; she has dealt with malpractice, wrongful death and contract disputes. Cawley's book is advocacy law at its most engaging. 20,000 first printing. (Aug.)