Frozen Dog Semen Update

[Riddick]

A jury has awarded $400,000 to two Oregon dog breeders who sued the International Canine Semen Bank alleging that it mistakenly destroyed frozen dog sperm from the 1990s that could have produced hundreds of coveted, cream-of-the-crop Labrador retriever puppies.

Dick Weiner and Brad Barcroft claimed the Sandy-area sperm bank negligently allowed the sperm of six prized, long-dead Labradors to thaw and become useless after a freezer mishap in 1997. Weiner and Barcroft alleged the sperm bank then hid its mistake for nearly two decades until a former employee of the company shared the news with them in 2016.

Jurors awarded Weiner $300,000 in economic damages and Barcroft $100,000 in economic damages.

Weiner, 81, has been breeding Labradors for nearly 50 years through his Salem-based company, Sunnyview Labradors. He described the loss of the bloodlines as emotionally devastating.

“But it is what it is,” Weiner said, over his losses. “And there’s not much I can do about it.”

FULL STORY