Suing for Emotional Distress After the Death of a Pet
Americans love their pets. Several studies have found that the simple act of petting a dog can lower blood pressure, and that people who own pets experience less severe cardiovascular reactions, and return to normal more quickly, during times of stress. For many older Americans, a beloved pet is their only companion. For others, a pet may literally be their reason for living. The emotional value of companion animals cannot be overstated, and many pet owners are devastated when a beloved companion animal dies. The emotional pain of losing a pet is even worse when the pet was killed intentionally, or by negligence.
Unfortunately, courts have been slow to recognize the unique position that pets have in our lives. Under traditional common law, a pet was nothing more than property, for which compensation could be calculated according to its economic value – how much it would cost to procure another one. The value of pets are personal property has been recognized in American courts for many years, as illustrated by the 1936 North Carolina case of Jones v.Craddock, 210 N.C. 429 (N.C. 1936) in which the court determined that a pet dog cold have monetary value in the same way as other domestic animals. Since then, in North Carolina, as in most U.S. states, personal injury attorneys like Monroe’s Campbell & Associates Law regularly represent clients who are injured by dogs, but have had less success in convincing courts to fully compensate owners if their dog suffers an injury. If a pet is injured or killed by a negligent or intentional act, courts have been reluctant to award damages beyond the cost of veterinarian bills and the cost of replacing the animal.
Courts in some states, though, have started to recognize the emotional value of companion animals, and have awarded damages for emotional distress of an owner when animal was killed, under the umbrella of intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress. In most cases, courts have been willing to award damages for emotional distress only if the owner and pet were injured by the same action; if, for example, a car struck both the owner and a pet, injuring the owner and killing the pet. Other courts have allowed damages for emotional distress if the pet was killed and the owner was nearby and in the “zone of danger.”
Other states have allowed animal owners to present evidence of emotional distress as an element in determining the animal’s value, but still recognized the animals only as personal property.
The state of Florida has led the way in recognizing the value of companion animals to their owners, beyond just their monetary worth. In 1964, a Florida court allowed a family to collect damages for emotional distress after watching a city employee deliberately kill their beloved pet. Later decisions affirmed the ability of pet owners to collect punitive damages when the defendants were guilty of particularly egregious behavior. Nevertheless, the Florida Supreme Court has refused to award damages for emotional distress when a pet is killed by a negligent act.
The Hawaii Supreme Court became one of the first to award damages for emotional distress for the loss of a pet when the owners were not injured by the same act, or even present, when the pet died. In a 1981 case against a state animal control agency, the court found that the family’s pet had died of heat prostration after being left in a hot vehicle. The family found out about the dog’s death the next day, and, even though they did not witness the event, or even see the dog’s body, the court awarded the, $1,000 for their emotional distress.
The Tennessee legislature passed a law in 2000 that allows limited damages for loss of companionship to pet owners whose animals are killed by negligent or intentional acts, while the animal was on the owner’s property and under the owner’s control.
A bill was introduced this spring in the New York State Senate that would create a separate cause of action for the wrongful death of a companion animal. If the bill becomes law, Buffalo personal injury lawyers may find themselves making new law in the area of pet wrongful death.
You can learn more about the law in your state by talking to a personal injury lawyer.
