A bronze statue of Lady Justice holding scales is displayed indoors.
INDIANAPOLIS – Purdue University’s animal hospital won’t have to face a lawsuit claiming its animal hospital killed a woman’s dog, an Indiana appeals court has ruled in a defeat for a self-represented plaintiff.
Joy Sullivan was suing over the 2023 death of her dog Huston, who was taken to Purdue Small Animal Hospital for a cardiology consultation. Sullivan said she “expressly declined” any diagnostic procedures, but a veterinarian performed an echocardiogram and x-rays and Huston died two days later.
At issue in the appeal was whether she complied with state law governing notices of claims under the Indiana Tort Claims Act. A trial judge had ruled she didn’t, and the Court of Appeals affirmed on Oct. 20.
An emailed complaint and a notice to the Attorney General’s Office filed after the 180-day window were not appropriate notices under the ITCA, Judge Mary DeBoer wrote.
“While she sent the email well within the 180-day window and included a short and plain statement of the underlying facts, it did not substantially comply with ITCA,” DeBoer added.
“First, the email was not delivered in person or sent via registered or certified mail to the governing body of Purdue or the IPSRMC. Second, nowhere did Sullivan indicate that she intended to bring a claim against Purdue. Although she requested to speak on the phone with a Purdue representative, Sullivan did not indicate she was considering legal action.”
Sullivan sued in Tippecanoe County in 2025, seeking reimbursement for expenses related to the unauthorized procedures and the cost of a replacement companion animal. Purdue University is a state agency, and lawsuits against it must comply with the technicalities contained in the ITCA.
One of those is that a claimant must notify the political subdivision’s body and a state agency within 180 days of the injury. Sullivan argued her email to Purdue’s client concerns address satisfied that burden – “Huston was injured during the unauthorized procedures which directly impacted his health causing death yesterday,” it said.
Her notice to the AG’s office failed too, the court ruled. Though it did state she intended to seek relief under the ITCA, it needed to be delivered in person or via registered mail to the governing body of Purdue or the Indiana Political Subdivision Risk Management Commission.
Sullivan couldn’t argue that Purdue induced her into using its internal complaint process rather than filing a lawsuit, the court said.
