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Sponsor seeks to raise Maryland cap on veterinary compensatory damages to $25,000
Summary
House Bill 438 ("Buddy's Law") would raise the civil cap on compensatory damages for serious injury or death of a pet from $10,000 (set in 2017) to $25,000, sponsors and pet owners told the Judiciary Committee, citing rising emergency veterinary costs and examples of malpractice or injury exceeding the cap.
Delegate Sandy Bartlett presented House Bill 438 to the House Judiciary Committee as an update to the state’s cap on compensatory damages for pets injured or killed by another’s conduct. The bill would raise Maryland’s statutory cap from $10,000 to $25,000 to better reflect emergency veterinary costs and related expenses.
Bartlett described variability in emergency veterinary bills—24/7 operation, advanced diagnostics and specialist care—and said the bill would not guarantee awards of $25,000 but would allow judges to award compensatory damages up to that amount when supported by receipts and evidence.
Several witnesses gave firsthand accounts. Lawrence Sanders described paying more than $15,000 after his dog Buddy was shot and said the current cap left owners with little recourse. Other witnesses described alleged veterinary malpractice and insurers refusing to pay above the $10,000 statutory cap. Sandy Pop and plaintiff attorneys urged the committee to consider inflation and the reality of modern veterinary care costs.
A representative of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Animal Law Section and the Maryland Association for Justice supported raising or removing the cap; the bar group emphasized the cap’s inconsistency with property-damage recovery for other property (for example, cars) and noted Maryland is an outlier among neighboring jurisdictions on the $10,000 cap.
The Maryland State Bar Association’s trial and estate sections, veterinary malpractice claimants, and the Maryland Association for Justice framed the bill as a limited change to ensure compensatory recovery for verifiable, necessary veterinary costs.
Committee members asked about insurer concerns and alternatives; witnesses said increasing the cap to $25,000 would not drive litigation or insurance-market disruption and noted the proposal would remain a district-court level civil claim.
No formal committee action was recorded in the hearing transcript.
