Ohio veterinarians' liquid nitrogen tank mishap cost them $2 million in lawsuit

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Franklin County jury has handed down a million-dollar verdict in a complex civil case between a Columbus sperm bank for dogs, and breeders who held specimens there.

Starting in August 2018, a group of seven purebred dog breeders went after the Canine Semen Bank of Columbus, a division of Beechwold Veterinary Hospital, in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. A complaint document for the breeders' class action lawsuit -- representing "over 50" Ohio residents -- listed issues including breach of contract, and "mishandling of canine semen specimens" they gave to the bank for cryogenic storage.

The specimens were destroyed as a result of liquid nitrogen -- the cooling material of choice for freezing sperm -- evaporating in storage tanks, the breeders' attorneys wrote in the document.

The breeders claimed that after they entrusted specimens with Beechwold's bank division, they later discovered that the maintainers didn't set up alarms for their storage tanks, or routine checks to know when they needed more liquid nitrogen.

Additionally, the breeders took issue with the bank storing all specimens from one dog in the same tank, meaning a tank failure would destroy all of the samples from that specific dog. Their attorneys called this "gross negligence," claiming the more common practice is to spread samples from one dog across multiple tanks.

The tank failures and destruction of the frozen semen happened sometime in April 2018. But the operators of the hospital and bank didn't tell several of the breeders about the destruction until they reached out in July of that year, attorneys wrote in the complaint.

Citing damages, some of the plaintiffs said the purebred dogs had special certifications making their sired puppies more valuable, and others had neutered their dogs before discovering the preserved semen was gone.

"Since he was collected, Lotto has been neutered, rendering the semen stored at defendants' facility the only way (the breeder) can ever have another litter sired by Lotto," the plaintiffs' lawyers wrote of one of the dogs.

Beechwold's attorneys responded to the claim, mainly denying the allegations of the breeders while also defending the expertise of the hospital and bank's medical staff.

"The liquid nitrogen levels in the storage tanks ... were regularly monitored, and liquid nitrogen levels were maintained at proper levels," the hospital's legal team wrote. "Further answering, defendants deny any other allegations contained therein."

The breeders were originally seeking more than $15,000 in relief for each claimant. On Aug. 30, the jury wrote the breeders failed to prove negligence or fraudulent inducement. But they ruled the breeders did prove Beechwold breached their contracts and bailment, which means the physical possession of the breeder's assets for safekeeping.

The jury ultimately awarded $2,301,815 in compensatory damages. The dollar amount broke down as follows, giving a staggeringly high value to the lost semen:

• $2,262,000 for bailment
• $39,815 for breach of contract

The plaintiffs submitted motions for attorney fees, prejudgment interest and approval of a distribution plan for their awards in the case on Thursday, which each had yet to be approved by a judge. View the original complaint filed in 2018 below: