Is refusing to euthanize your sick pet a crime? The state's highest court makes ruling

The state's highest court has ruled that a Weymouth woman did not commit animal abuse when she brought her terminally ill dog home instead of following a veterinarian's recommendation to have it euthanized.

MaryAnn Russo was facing an animal cruelty charge and a prison term of up to seven years for insisting that her 14-year-old dog, Tipper, be allowed to die at home rather than be euthanized, even though a veterinarian said Tipper was suffering and in pain.

Prosecutors argued that Russo didn't commit animal abuse by refusing to euthanize Tipper, but by allowing his pain to continue.

A District Court judge later dismissed the charge. The state Supreme Judicial Court upheld the dismissal, ruling that Russo did not violate the state's animal abuse laws.

"The complaint application failed to establish probable cause that the defendant intended for Tipper to unnecessarily suffer when she declined to follow the veterinarian's recommendation to euthanize Tipper and brought him home to die," the judges wrote in their decision to uphold the dismissal.

Veterinarian notified Animal Rescue League of Boston

According to court documents, Russo took Tipper to VCA South Shore Animal Hospital in Weymouth on Dec. 25, 2020, with a large mass on his side. She declined surgery and brought the dog home.

She returned to the hospital on Jan. 13, 2021, and "the dog was unable to stand or walk, had bedsores, anemia, labored breathing, and an open necrotic wound where his skin was sloughing off," according to court documents.

The veterinarian determined that Tipper would not survive surgery and his pain could not be controlled, and recommended euthanasia.

Russo told the veterinarian she would take the dog to a different veterinarian to euthanize him, according to court documents.

The South Shore Animal Hospital veterinarian did not believe Russo would euthanize the dog and reported suspected animal cruelty to the law enforcement department of the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

An investigator went to Russo's home three weeks later and said the dog "had stiff legs, no apparent signs of breathing, and appeared to be dead" until it was inspected more closely.

The investigator obtained a warrant, had the dog euthanized and filed a complaint charging Russo with cruelty to an animal.

Prosecutors' argument rejected by three courts

A lower court and an appeals court both threw out the criminal complaint. The state asked the Supreme Judicial Court to review the case and rule if it could go to trial.

The justices reviewed the state's animal cruelty law and whether the state has probable cause that Russo violated it by willfully subjecting her dog to unnecessary suffering.

They decided that the state failed to prove Russo's actions were "willful."

"The defendant brought Tipper to the animal hospital twice seeking medical care. Faced with difficult choices, the defendant took Tipper home to die with the understanding that nothing could be done to alleviate his pain, short of euthanasia," the decision reads. "These allegations do not create a reasonable inference that the defendant intended for Tipper to unnecessarily suffer."