# Woman gets a bloody fortune for "emotional distress" after her cat is mauled by a dog **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200 "2005-05-10T10:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/221 "2005-05-10T20:21:33Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > No, I bemoan a stupid judgment that vastly overvalues an animal. You don’t think $30,000 is a lot for an animal? If you don’t you’re out of your mind. Some people don’t have houses that are worth that much. you’ve just demonstrated that I was correct. There are, indeed, people who pay $30 grand for an animal. Just because you personally wouldn’t put that value on it doesn’t mean no one could, should, does, or is insane for doing so. I may personally feel that some stupid piece of colored carbon isn’t worth shit and wouldn’t spend 10 cents let alone hundreds of thousands of dollars on it, but guess what? Liz Taylor disagrees. and I’ll bet there’s houses worth less than her diamonds, too. Vive la difference. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/222 "2005-05-10T20:22:02Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > No, I bemoan a stupid judgment that vastly overvalues an animal. You don’t think $30,000 is a lot for an animal? If you don’t you’re out of your mind. Some people don’t have houses that are worth that much. No, the judgment recognized that the man was not going to stop practicing such disgusting negligence unless he had huge consequences to pay. If he got some slap on the wrist, the next time, his dog might be killing a child. The man deserved a serious punishment for letting a dangerous animal roam free. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/223 "2005-05-10T20:23:20Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Uh, you’ve already declared that she thinks of her cats as children. You’ve used her as an example of a viewpoint that is crazy. You seem to be backing down from your assertions - is it actually the case that you just misrepresented her views in order to make some silly point? Or does she actually consider pets to be equivalent to humans? If it’s the latter, she’s nutso - whether or not I’ve met her. If it’s the former, well, you shouldn’t have said what you did about her. I’d be awfully pissed if my boyfriend falsely claimed some pathological behavior for me to use as an example in an argument with someone else. See, this is why you, **Neurotik** and **tdn** are going in circles. It’s clear to me that **tdn** has been using “children” to mean “dependents” but you and **Neurotik** are only seeing “children” as “children”. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/224 "2005-05-10T20:24:19Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > So if you’re in a burning building, and you’re running out of the door of your room with your pet in your arms, and there’s a baby (unknown to you) lying on the floor, crying, you would leave the baby to burn and save your pet? Obviously I would, given the stipulation that I don’t know about the presence of the baby. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/225 "2005-05-10T20:25:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Except that in human relationships, the bond is reciprocal. With pets, it’s not. For the most part, yes. But I know that humans can be just as irrational in claiming a “bond” with other homo sapiens that are even less capable than a cat of reciprocating. Look at the Terri Schiavo case. There was an emotional bond there, even if it was completely one sided. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/226 "2005-05-10T20:26:26Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > There is not a single animal in the entire world more valuable than any human being. Puh-leeze. There are animals, (and plants, and critters that fall into one of the other kingdoms recognized by biologists) more valuable than Osama bin Laden. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/227 "2005-05-10T20:31:13Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > For the most part, yes. But I know that humans can be just as irrational in claiming a “bond” with other homo sapiens that are even less capable than a cat of reciprocating. Look at the Terri Schiavo case. There was an emotional bond there, even if it was completely one sided. Another point: Cats are more capable of reciprocating than human infants. A newborn can’t even hold its own head up, for christs sake. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/228 "2005-05-10T20:39:46Z")
No, I don’t like ill-mannered children. I despise parents who allow their children to behave that way. Consideration of others feeling must be taught from childhood or it is never learned. And yes, when a child has been feeding fish to sea lions and has covered himself in said fish and his parents have not cleaned him up, on a warm day, he stinks. That said, I have gone out of my way to save children from injury when their parents weren’t paying attention to them. At the hockey arena where I have season tickets, some parents seem to think the seats are gym sets for their children to climb over. I saved three children from possible broken legs last season by catching them when they climbed over the seat beside mine and the seat bottom folded up. Not once was I thanked by the parents, or was the child scolded for climbing over something that wasn’t meant to be climbed over. And as far as pets not being worth the life of a single human being, I definitely disagree with that sweeping a statement. I don’t think my cats are worth the life of an innocent child, and I hope I am never forced to make that choice. However, given the choice between the life of Cricket (who is currently melting into my lap) or the life of the guy that kidnapped a 12 year old and raped & murdered her - of course Cricket’s life is worth much more than the life of such a scumbag. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/229 "2005-05-10T20:47:40Z")
**Snakescatlady** , I’m betting these irresponsible children owners are also irresponsible pet owners. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/230 "2005-05-10T20:56:04Z")
Ok, I got really tired of reading this thread about midway through page four, so sorry if nobody’s brought this up yet: I don’t think **tdn** ’s girlfriend is necessarily crazy for treating her cats like her children. She could very well be a cat herself. Though that would make **tdn** one sick, uh, puppy. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/231 "2005-05-10T20:58:36Z")
A fur-mommy in Africa recently saved a flesh-baby that was abandoned by it’s own flesh-mother. From [Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155977,00.html): > [@](#): > > A tiny girl in east Africa owes her life to a cunning canine. > > Residents of a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, told the Daily Nation newspaper that the stray dog found the newborn tot abandoned in a nearby forest and carried her home. It seems the fur-mommy took the flesh-baby back to her fur-home and tucked her in with her very own fur-baby. Some local flesh-children then found the fur-home containing the flesh-baby and alterted some flesh-elders who brought her to the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/232 "2005-05-10T21:07:18Z")
**NurseCarmen** , you are so right. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/233 "2005-05-10T21:09:59Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Ha! If I were to die tomorrow in combat the death benefit my wife and son would receive $12,000 or so. I can only surmise from this that a cat is worth more than a human being. Based upon your emotionally stunted comments, it was certainly worth more than you anyway… ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/234 "2005-05-10T21:16:42Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > It seems the fur-mommy took the flesh-baby back to her fur-home and tucked her in with her very own fur-baby. Some local flesh-children then found the fur-home containing the flesh-baby and alterted some flesh-elders who brought her to the hospital. K, this was really funny. heh. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/235 "2005-05-10T21:19:36Z")
> [@Dan Norder](#): > > Based upon your emotionally stunted comments, it was certainly worth more than you anyway… Fuck off. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/236 "2005-05-10T21:22:06Z")
I know I promised to stay out of this thread, but this one point was sticking in my craw. And I apologize for my earlier ranting. > [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > See, this is why you, **Neurotik** and **tdn** are going in circles. It’s clear to me that **tdn** has been using “children” to mean “dependents” but you and **Neurotik** are only seeing “children” as “children”. Yep. That seems to be the disconnect. I hope I can resolve this whole bit of the argument in one post, and we can all be right with each other. I’m not sure how you guys define crazy, but I define it as a general disconnect from reality. So let’s see if my gf is disconnected in any way: She does not believe that her cats are human children, she knows they are cats. She does not believe they sprang from her loins. She knows their birth mothers were also of the feline persuasion. She does not breast feed them. She does not send them off to school. She does not let them eat at the dinner table. She makes them eat cat food from bowls on the floor. So far she sounds pretty grounded in reality, would you agree? In a fire she would do her best to save them but not at the expense of saving a child (or adult) human. She knows that she will outlive her cats, and when they die, she will be devastated. But it wouldn’t be like losing a flesh baby. She is well aware that a human death is far more tragic. Grounded in reality, AND a sense of perspective. We still together on this? So why does she refer to her cats as her children when they are clearly cats? Because they sort-of take the role of children. Since there are no flesh babies in the household, the position is open. Now what is common between flesh babies and fur babies? They would be loved by her. They would be dependant on her for food, shelter, and medical needs. They’re cute cuddly 10-pound bundles of projectile vomit. They need their poop cleaned up. They’re the “little ones” of the house. So, while I agree it’s crazy to _believe_ her cats are human children, is it really all that crazy to _refer_ to them as “the children”? I hope that makes things clearer and we can put all of this stupidity behind us. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/237 "2005-05-10T21:33:07Z")
> [@Boldface Type](#): > > Wait! The scenario is not complete! The baby is, like, nailed to the floor and the claw hammer is in a glass box, suspended from a ceiling. (a)Do you think no one in the history of humanity has ever had to choose between saving the life of a pet and an unknown child in a fire/natural disaster type situation such as the one I described? I mean, sure, it’s not likely to happen to you tomorrow, or ever, but I abso-bloody-lutely guarantee that it HAS happened, and will happen again. (b) So what if it’s a bit contrived? Why not answer anyhow? I mean, sure, it’s not LIKELY that someone will walk up to me tomorrow and say “here’s a magic button. You can push it. If you do, it will kill a random human being but permanently end all wars”. Heck, it’s not even remotely plausible. But it’s still an interesting question to discuss, and how I would answer it says something about me which might shed light on how I would act in more possible situations. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/238 "2005-05-10T21:49:20Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I had a parakeet, once, that was worth more than Adolph Hitler. 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃 I’ve seen it all now. Parakeets have been Godwinized 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/239 "2005-05-10T22:19:39Z")
Dan Norder you are no less than a complete fucking idiot. In regards to the dog saving the baby, geez it’s not like the dog actually had cognitions like hmmm I really love and care about this kid. It just acted on pure animal instinct that did not require much thought. Anyone care to bring up all the times animals have killed people? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/240 "2005-05-10T22:26:18Z")
> [@black455](#): > > Though that would make **tdn** one sick, uh, puppy. I’m a good dog! Though I do so enjoy eating pussy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200.md?page=13)