Legal Question in Civil Litigation in United States Virgin Islands

I'm assuming you have no written agreement with the owner. Turning the dog over to you created a "bailment" and you are the "bailee." As a general rule, a bailee has a duty to exercise reasonable care over property entrusted to it. (A dog is considered personal property.) Assuming that you exercised reasonable care and the dog nevertheless died of grief, there should be no liability. However, the fact that the dog died in your custody may create a presumption that you did not exercise reasonable care. This would have the effect of shifting the burden of of persuading the court or jury that the dog died of grief despite your exercise of reasonable care.