35 Pa. Commw. 386 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1978
Opinion by
Before us on preliminary objections is a complaint brought by Philip L. Maddux (Maddux) against the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry (Bureau) and various Bureau employes seeking compensation for 7,000 unhatched eggs destroyed after having been exposed to a contagious disease.
Maddux, the owner and operator of a hatchery, filed his complaint in mandamus with the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County alleging that he was entitled to compensation pursuant to the Act of June 22, 1931 (Act), P.L. 682, as amended, 3 P.S. §398 et seq., which provides a method of compensating the owners of domestic animals slaughtered to prevent the spread of disease. The lower court granted the Bureau’s preliminary objection with respect to subject matter jurisdiction and transferred the matter to us. We will consider it as a petition for review in the nature of mandamus.
The Bureau has also questioned Maddux’s capacity to sue for compensation, arguing that only “owners of domestic animals” are entitled to compensation under the Act. The one fact which is clear from a reading of the complaint is that Maddux ‘ ‘ owned and operated a hatchery,” but, it is not clear that he was the owner of the unhatched eggs which were destroyed. In order to insure a full hearing on the merits of a case, the Pennsylvania Buies of Civil Procedure permit liberal amendment procedures where a better statement of the facts could establish a cause of action, and we will deny preliminary objections, permitting amendment, where the complaint is not inherently unsound but only incomplete. Williams v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, 2 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 312 (1971). Because the ownership of the eggs is in doubt, we will permit Maddux to amend his complaint to plead with particularity, if he can, that he is entitled to compensation as the owner of the destroyed eggs.
Finally, the Bureau has asked us to grant its motion for more specific pleading. A pleading must be sufficiently specific so as to advise a defendant as to what action on his part is deemed by the complainant to have been improper. Oas v. Commonwealth, 8 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 118, 301 A.2d 93 (1973). We believe that the present pleading is sufficiently specific, with the exception of the issue of ownership of the eggs, to enable the Bureau to prepare a defense, and we must, therefore, deny the motion.
■ For the- foregoing reasons, the preliminary objections are dismissed except as to seeking more specifi
Order
And Now, this 22nd day of May, 1978, defendants’ preliminary objections are hereby dismissed except that seeking more specificity which is sustained. Plaintiff is directed to file an amended complaint within thirty (30) days of the date of this Order or suffer dismissal of the complaint as of course.
The Bureau has asked us to dismiss the complaint because Pa. R.A.P. 1502 has abolished the action of mandamus. Pa.R.A.P. 1503 states that such an error in pleading “shall not be a ground for dismissal” and permits the Court to regard and act upon the papers filed as a petition for review.