Five years after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that dog owners cannot recover emotion-based damages over the loss of their pets, another state appellate court has determined that such plaintiffs also can't recover attorney fees.

In Palfreyman v. Gaconnet, Houston's Fourteenth Court of Appeals focused on § 38.001 (6) of the Texas Civil Practices & Remedies Code, an obscure law that allows people to recover attorney fees if their claim concerns “killed or injured stock.”

According to the decision, Rita Palfreyman sued Becky Gaconnet, the owner of a dog-boarding business, for negligence after her two Yorkies, Ricco and Warwick, died while at Gaconnet's facility. Palfreyman also moved to recover attorney fees under § 38.001 (6).