Beverly-Based Canine Attorney Lets Legal Skills Go To The Dogs
BOSTON (CBS) – Though he was a successful attorney, Jeremy Cohen wasn't happy with his career path. So he let his legal skills go to the dogs.
Cohen was working with a Salem firm that was one of the largest in the state handling debt collection.
"I would go home every day, and just wouldn't feel good about myself," Cohen told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens.
So Cohen sold the business.
Soon after, a dog that belonged to Cohen's stepchildren bit several dogs and a person.
The Board of Selectmen wanted the German shepherd put to sleep. Cohen represented the family in appealing.
"We're too smart as a society to just say 'Dog bites thing. Let's kill it,'" Cohen said. "It may be after good investigation that's the right thing to do. But this wasn't here."
Thanks to Cohen's appeal, the dog was saved and lived for five more years.
Cohen went on to found Beverly-based Boston Dog Lawyers, a firm that defends "responsible dog and pet owners around the country when their rights to keep and own a companion animal are being challenged," according to its website.
In the last year-plus, Cohen has worked on around 70 cases, many involving dogs that have bitten others. Cases often are custody disputes as well.
The attorney said he views his job as giving a voice to clients that can't speak.
"For the first time as a lawyer, I was passionate. I started taking them on as if these dogs are mine," said Cohen.
Through his work, Cohen said he has been able to keep several dogs from being put to sleep.
"It's just very fulfilling. I've kept dogs alive," said Cohen. "To track the path of my legal career, I didn't want to be a lawyer, I didn't like being a lawyer. So yeah, I'm saving dogs. But they're saving me."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports