# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/41 "2005-05-10T14:20:41Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > My girlfriend has already spent $18,000 on vet bills for one of her cats, and I know she’d gladly do it again. So to her the cat is worth at least $36,000 to her. At what monetary value is it no longer worth keeping? Is there a given bluebook value for this particular cat? > > And yes, her cats are her children. They are no less so just because you love your flesh babies. Then your girlfriend sounds to be as crazy as a shit house rat. Her cats are not her children. They are her pets. ---
**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, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/42 "2005-05-10T14:22:35Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But isn’t it the case that all emotional bonds exist in your head, specifically the limbic system? “Prove, scientifically, that you love your mother.” Once again I’m not saying that $45k is an appropriate award in the case cited in the OP, but who are we to judge how much love someone or something is entitled to? Good point, **Lib**. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/43 "2005-05-10T14:24:10Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > (terribly un-PC comment that will surely get me in trouble) True, most folks don’t even have to leave the house to get another child, they just have to stop taking birth control. If we’re talking just about the cost of replacement, that is. > > Let’s also not kid ourselves into thinking that a wrongful death suit for a child is going to net anything remotely as small as $45K. Especially if the defendant already went to jail for his actions and didn’t bother to mount any defense at trial. What? yes, people can procreate anywhere–that is not the point! Nor is the amount awarded for a wrongful death of a child pertinent, either. Do you think the two should be the same? A child is irreplaceable. A child is irreplaceable. By all means, go have another child–but it won’t be Timmy or whoever. Somehow I doubt that those who have lost children see it quite the same way. I have at present a orange tabby. If he died today, I could go down to the local pound and get another orange tabby (and I know people who do-they only like one kind of cat so always get Maine Coons or whatever). I can see this argument going down into the uniqueness of DNA for each animal. :rolleyes: The new orange tabby would not have the same personality as my cat currently does, but I would have the same attachement (actually I would wait awhile before I “replaced” him). And I would enjoy the differences. I enjoy the differences in my “flesh babies” (and there is a phrase that speaks volumes as to **tdn’s** valuing of people-gack!), but the two are not the equitabel at all. Put it this way: who are you going to save from a burning building? The two year old child or the two year old cat? You only get to save one. No going back. A pet does not equate to a child. It doesn’t matter how folks without kids (or with-I know a few who lavish more love and attention on their pets than they do on their kids!) refer to their pets–they are stiill pets. You do not “own” your kids-you are privileged enough to have them for a time and hopefully you invest enough of yourself in them to put them on the road to their own lives, as independent, productive members of society. None of that can be said for ANY pet, no matter how loved. The congenitally disabled child I cannot speak to, since I have never been faced with such. I do know, from having a neighbor whose niece has such a child, that to equate Chloe to a pet would be the ultimate insult to her mother and family. When they speak of Chloe, they speak of the life lessons that she has taught them-patience and tolerance, silver linings and clouds etc. I have never heard any pet owner talk to me of such lessons from a cat or dog. I am the only child in my family to have kids. My sisters all have/had dogs. I have heard this bandied about since I had my first child. It didn’t wash then, and it doesn’t now. Give the animal the dignity of its own species–why anthropomorphize (sp?) it? A dog is a dog; a cat, a cat. It is not your “baby” or child or foster animal or whatever. I see nothing wrong with loving animals deeply. I see alot wrong with calling them people and putting them on a equal footing with children. ---
**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, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/44 "2005-05-10T14:28:38Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > Then your girlfriend sounds to be as crazy as a shit house rat. > > Her cats are not her children. They are her pets. I’ll be expecting an apology from you as well. I never said that she actually thought her cats contain human DNA. When people say their pets are their children, they mean that their pets are their emotional and financial responsibility, they are the “at home” family that greets them at the door, that they are who they cuddle with at night. And that there is a real loving bond. One again, no one is confusing a feline with a homo sapiens. This concept is obviously beyond many of you. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/45 "2005-05-10T14:35:43Z")
Of course it’s not the same, however the people I’m arguing against want to say that the fine should be based entirely on the cost of replacement rather than include any emotional value. Using that stupid logic, replacing a child is nearly costless as well. You lose a child and have another, it’s not the same child. You lose a pet and get another, it’s not the same pet either. Neither of them are like replacing a broken window. That doesn’t mean their the SAME it just means that they are both different than an unliving possession. A pet is a pet, not a child. That is fairly clear from the fact that this “highest ever” cat award is a measely $45K, and people routinely get millions for human death and disfigurement. Note also that the woman has pledged to donate her award to an animal charity, so this is not about lining her pockets. ---
**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, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/46 "2005-05-10T14:37:08Z")
The guy ought to thank whatever gods he believes in that he got off so lightly. It was pure dumb luck that the dogs he was responsible for and failed to control found a cat before they found a child. ---
**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, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/47 "2005-05-10T14:38:49Z")
> [@](#): > > If you read the full text of that article you’ll discover the factual basis for the judge’s determination that the cat had extraordinary value to its owner. I don’t know much about law, but would the same logic apply if a burglar had stolen an irreplacable family heirloom? Would the punishment he receive be relative to the heirlooms monetary value or to it’s emotional value? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/48 "2005-05-10T14:39:01Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > While I agree that $45K is excessive, I think your callous attitude towards pets is reprehensible. A pet is not a disposable pen. It is not a commodity. If you lost a child would you like it if I told you to just get over it and then make another one as a replacement? > > I seriously hope you are not a pet owner – for the pet’s sake. Airman and heartless self-absorbed bastardry are par for the course. To expect anything different would require that Ms Robyn get him fixed so he’s calmer and ceases attempting to mindlessly maul people. ---
**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, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/49 "2005-05-10T14:39:39Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I’ll give you one chance to take that back. Or what? You’ll begin aggressive typing? Threats on a message board sound about as silly as ‘flesh babies’. Calm down **tdn**. You’re starting to sound loopy. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/50 "2005-05-10T14:40:22Z")
\*\* eleanorigby \*\* A child is irreplaceable…to YOU. There are people every day that reproduce for the sole purpose of selling their irreplaceable child to highest bidder and would KILL you if you touched their dog. Every day people maim and kill those irreplaceable children…ask how irreplaceable girl babies are in some countries. Why you do people get these hard-ons when other people care about their pets enough to consider them “family”? Why do you care? Truth is this woman’s cat, has most likely saved a child from being attacked by this asshole’s dog; had the woman not cared so much, this guy would have continued his irresponsible behaviour until his dog attacked a person. ---
**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, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/51 "2005-05-10T14:41:44Z")
> [@](#): > > ‘flesh babies’ Yeah, that’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever read. ---
**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, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/52 "2005-05-10T14:43:56Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > That said, I don’t think$45K is too much for this jerk to pay. He knew the dogs were causing trouble and didn’t do anything about it. Maybe in the future, he’ll know better. That’s my read on it. I suspect that the fact that he didn’t show up for his court date was the final straw that convinced the judge and/or jury that he needed a thwack with a good heavy clue-by-four before his dogs mauled a child. ---
**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, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/53 "2005-05-10T14:44:53Z")
I chose not to have children. I don’t know anything about them, and most of the ones I have met I don’t like. This is not the fault, but the fault of the people raising them. If you think cats are not capable of returning love, and showing affection, sadly you haven’t met the right cat. Some of mine are more affectionate than others, but when I returned from a two week vacation mine totally ignored the treats I brought them to sniff me throughly (to find out what I had been up to) and all try to crowd into my lap at once. I do not think my cats are human children. If I had wanted human children I would have had them. Just because someone doesn’t have my potential life span or intelligence, does that make them undeserving of love? I have read many studies which suggest that a widow/widower who had a happy marriage is more likely to remarry that someone who didn’t have a happy marriage. If/when I lose one of my furbabies, (a fact that I am facing as Gweniever is 15 and starting to slow down) she will never be replaced. Will I get another cat? Possibly - there are many kittens/cats in need of homes. But even if I do, that would not replace Gwen. My cats act much more loving to me that some people’s kids act toward their parents. Other people’s rude, obnoxious and smelly children totally ruined my trip to Sea World last week. Some people should not be allowed to raise children. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/54 "2005-05-10T14:45:07Z")
Cats do provide a real loving bond. But I’ve never heard of anyone who hasn’t given their cat away when the baby comes into the house and the cat get aggressive or the child is allergic and decides to give the baby away instead. Perhaps your girlfriend will choose to remain childless (which is fine) and therefore choose her pets over children always. If she doesn’t, she will quickly realize how ridiculous the “my pets are my children” statement is to anyone with both children and pets - even dearly loved pets. $45,000 doesn’t seem excessive to me when you consider the portion to be taken by attorney fees, court costs, taxes (are legal judgements taxable? Not sure.) If she was indeed traumatized, therapy copays and time off work can be a few grand. Then again, if we valued a soliders life at more than $12 grand, we’d be a LOT more cautious about going to war. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/55 "2005-05-10T14:45:52Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I’ll be expecting an apology from you as well. > > I never said that she actually thought her cats contain human DNA. When people say their pets are their children, they mean that their pets are their emotional and financial responsibility, they are the “at home” family that greets them at the door, that they are who they cuddle with at night. And that there is a real loving bond. > > One again, no one is confusing a feline with a homo sapiens. > > This concept is obviously beyond many of you. You can say that I owe you an apology also, but you won’t be getting one (although I’ll try to keep my statement a bit more restrained than the prior two). My best friend loves animals, _all_ animals. She lives on 9 acres in South Carloina and grieves each time an animal dies, whether that animal is hers or not. She’s handfed baby birds, baby mice, baby deer, and many seriously injured animals until they could eat on their own… or died. She accepted animals from animal shelters and last year took a pitbull pup that was found during a raid on an animal fighting site. She would do anything for an animal… unless it came to a choice between an animal and one of her three children. Animals are not children, and anyone who thinks that the love for an animal is in any way comparable to the love for a child is deluded. ---
**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, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/56 "2005-05-10T14:46:31Z")
Oh for fuck’s sake. Some of you people take yourselves way too seriously. > [@eleanorigby](#): > > “flesh babies” (and there is a phrase that speaks volumes as to **tdn’s** valuing of people-gack!), It’s an expression. Get over yourself already. If I call my girlfriend my squeezebox, that does not mean I’ve devalued her to the level of an accordian. Lighten up. > [@](#): > > but the two are not the equitabel at all. I don’t think anyone said they were. > [@](#): > > Put it this way: who are you going to save from a burning building? The two year old child or the two year old cat? You only get to save one. No going back. Let’s assume your kids are already safe. Would you run in to save your pet? Or would you just figure you can pick up a replacement next week? > [@](#): > > I do know, from having a neighbor whose niece has such a child, that to equate Chloe to a pet would be the ultimate insult to her mother and family. Yeah, and gay marriage is a mockery of “real” marriage. If your neighbor takes “My pets are my children” as the ultimate insult, then perhaps your neighbor needs therapy. > [@](#): > > I see alot wrong with calling them people and putting them on a equal footing with children. Once again, who is doing this? People who say “My pets are my children” are quite aware that their pets are not homo sapiens. If someone loves her pets, why are you so threatened by that? Are you truly afraid that the government is going to force you to feed your kids kibble? ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/57 "2005-05-10T14:47:35Z")
Doors, you are getting to be more and more like the unholy spawn of Andy Rooney and Ed Anger. Say “I’m pig-bitin’ mad!” Cmon. Do it. No, do it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/58 "2005-05-10T14:50:25Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > You ( **tdn** ) equated a cat (small, furry animal that doesn’t care much for humans and makes many of us sneeze) with a child (human offspring of two parents that grows up to be an adult who can read and vote and is intelligent). This is just nuts. I’m sorry, but it is. Well, as for the first allegation, two out of three ain’t bad. Many children are quite antisocial and make us sneeze. I am reminded of the time I and other residents were rounding in the hospital with an infectious diseases specialist. We got on an elevator with a parent and child, the latter coughing and sneezing away (and not yet having been taught to cover its mouth when doing so). After the two got off at another floor, the infectious disease doc turned to us with a knowing look and remarked, “A vector.” _"…human offspring of two parents that grows up to be an adult who can read and vote and is intelligent.’_ This definition of a child is, to put it mildly, overoptimistic. 😛 ---
**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, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/59 "2005-05-10T14:51:40Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > I chose not to have children. I don’t know anything about them, and most of the ones I have met I don’t like. This is not the fault, but the fault of the people raising them. \ Other people’s rude, obnoxious and smelly children totally ruined my trip to Sea World last week. Gee. You sure have shown yourself to be psychologically issue free, haven’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/60 "2005-05-10T14:54:03Z")
This thread isn’t going end well. [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=2) [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=4)