You’re walking along with your favorite friend in the entire world – a wide-eyed beagle named Rover. All of a sudden, your neighbor – the one who seems perpetually glued to his bicycle - starts pedaling your way at a rapid speed. You try to safely move out of the way, but your neighbor ends up ramming into poor little Rover and breaking his poor little puppy leg in the process.
As you rush your brave canine companion to the vet, you find yourself getting more and more angry. And once you get the bill for the emergency treatment a couple of hours later, that anger turns into full-fledged rage. Of course, your initial inclination is to litter your inconsiderate neighbor’s front lawn with a fresh batch of Rover’s droppings, but as you start to calm down, you get a better idea: Why not make the neighbor pay for what he did?
It’s understandable that a dog owner may choose to sue another person for injuring his pet. After all, puppies aren’t immune to pain, and while their emotional capacity may not quite compare to that of humans, there’s no question that dogs can experience intense physical suffering. On the other hand, one can’t help but wonder whether a “pain and suffering” lawsuit might actually hold water when it’s filed on behalf of a four-legged creature. So the question is: If your dog gets hurt as the result of someone else’s negligence, can you sue?
Robert Dewey of the Dewey Law Firm is a Charlotte, North Carolina personal injury lawyer with more than three decades of experience under his belt, and according to him, you most certainly can sue if someone hurts your dog. In fact, there is a degree of legal precedence with respect to canine-related matters. Back in 1870, the landmark case of Burden vs. Hornsby resulted in a victory for dog owner Charles Burden, whose beloved dog, Old Drum, was killed by his neighbor. During that trial, Senator George Graham Vest made his argument for the heartbroken Burden by paying tribute to the fallen dog, stating that the loss of a beloved canine should not legally go unacknowledged. As a result of Vest’s speech, damages were awarded to Burden in the amount of $50 – quite a hefty sum back then, though of course not enough to make up for the loss of his dearly loved pal. More importantly, from that case rose the notion that the loss of an animal was not to be taken lightly from a legal perspective; and incidentally, it was during that very trial that the now popular “man’s best friend” catchphrase was born.
As a dog owner, you might take some comfort in the fact that another person is not allowed to simply cause your best buddy harm and get away with it. Therefore, if your dog (or any other animal, for that matter) is hurt as the result of another person’s malice or negligence, then you do have every right to go after the offender. On the other hand, when it comes to compensation, you may not end up being so happy with the results. The problem with suing for canine damages is that by law, animals are still considered property. Therefore, if your dog is killed as the result of somebody else’s disregard for its safety, then the amount of money that you’re likely to recover will mostly depend on the market value of the dog, not your emotional attachment to it. If you happen to lose your favorite show dog, then you could easily end up walking away with thousands. But if your best bud was just a rescued mutt, then money-wise, you might be out of luck. Of course, if your dog is injured and you rack up a hefty stack of veterinary bills as the result, then you might be able to recoup those losses by suing the person who caused your little guy harm. But don’t expect to get much out of him for canine pain and suffering.
As a dog owner, you’re probably wired to go out of your way to keep your favorite pal safe from harm: After all, he’d do the same for you. So if someone happens to hurt your dog – be it out of negligence or malice - then you can at least take comfort in the fact that to some extent, you have every right to make him pay.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Neither publication of this article nor your receipt of this article create an attorney-client relationship.
