What to Know
- Haslem says the hospital successfully performed surgery to remove a rope that his dog, Juice, had swallowed, but also neutered Juice.
- The lawsuit describes Juice as a show-quality Cane Corso, meaning his semen samples could have been worth between $3,500 and $10,000.
Miami Heat veteran Udonis Haslem is suing the veterinary hospital he says "castrated" his dog without permission.
The Miami Herald reports the basketball player filed a lawsuit accusing Murber Inc.'s LeadER Animal Specialty Hospital of negligence Tuesday. Haslem says the hospital successfully performed surgery to remove a rope that his dog, Juice, had swallowed, but also neutered Juice without permission or medical necessity.
The lawsuit describes Juice as a show-quality Cane Corso, meaning his semen samples could have been worth between $3,500 and $10,000. Haslem says he was preparing to breed Juice and sell the puppies.
He also says Juice is now "too tame," meaning he lost $30,000 spent training Juice to serve as a family guard dog while Haslem's on the road.
The report didn't include comment from the hospital. NBC6 South Florida has reached out to the hospital for comment.
In a statement, PETA said Haslem "should be thanking his veterinarian for neutering his dog, not suing him for it."
U.S. & World
"Today, there's no excuse for breeding dogs when millions of them are filling animal shelters nationwide and literally dying for a good home," the statment read. "PETA urges Haslem to drop this lawsuit and come to see his dog as a member of the family, not to exploit him by selling his sperm and using him as a cheap burglar alarm."