Pets
April 3rd, 2007 |If you think of dogs and cats as members of the family, you might figure you could collect damages for pain and suffering if they were to die because of wrongdoing.
The law in California and many other states sees things differently. Pets are treated as personal property, like cars and computers.
But that could be changing.
They are talking about changing the law so that pets owners are considered “guardians” of the pet. This would have the effect of giving pet owners more rights to sue for their pain and suffering damage should anything happen to the pet.
My sister is going through this process right now with her cat due to the Menu Foods recall. The cat is still not out of the woods and my sister is upset about it and none too stoked about the vet bill so far.
What do you think? Should pet owners only be compensated for the financial loss due to negligent harm to their pet or is there an emotional issue that should be taken into account?
