# 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:** 8
**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, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/141 "2005-05-10T16:55:29Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Willingness to kill people to protect your pet = pathological. Nonsense. If someone is inside my home (which they would have to be, as that’s where my cats are at all times) and engaging in violence that puts me in fear for my life (killing a cat, clearly for the purpose of sending the message of willingness to kill humans\*, does that), I can kill them in self-defense. It’s not pathological – it’s the Castle Doctrine. \*My mind is made up on this point, don’t bother arguing it. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/142 "2005-05-10T16:55:49Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > Calling someone crazy because you don’t believe in the same things is being intolerant. Your purposely ostracizing them because “you don’t get it”. Questioning their mental stability is really low class because you don’t understand something. Putting them in a group and calling them ill is intolerant. I have to agree with you on this… Just the other day I was telling my so called “friend” about what my satellite had beamed to my brain the other day and she called me crazy. Just because she doesn’t get it doesn’t mean she has to be such a bitch. I mean this satellite has been with me all my life telling me to do things and protecting me from the bad men. Like the time it told me to put the black widow in Jimmy’s bed because he was a spy from galaxia. Stupid intolerant bitch, ostacizing me and labeling me just because she doesn’t understand my satellite or believe in it. Fucking trailor trash cow. :rolleyes: ---
**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, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/143 "2005-05-10T16:57:08Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > The cat’s owner is a selfish bitch. Loss of her cat caused her to start smoking? I hope Marlboro and Camel never hear about this. I get that she lost her cat and was grieving, I would do the same if my cat died. Is $45K too much? Probably. She did say that her award would go to charity. Whether that’s true remains to be seen, but if it is, I can’t say she’s a selfish bitch. ---
**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, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/144 "2005-05-10T16:59:43Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > And you can go fuck yourself with a rusty fucking spoon. So if someone comes in your house and tries to kill you, your kids, and your pets . . . you’re not going to retaliate? Again, if someone comes onto your property and kills your pets, it is perfectly reasonable to presume that he is doing so to communicate a threat to **you** – which means, in most jurisdictions, that you are entitled to use deadly force to deal with the threat. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/145 "2005-05-10T16:59:45Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Oh, knock it off. You know damn well nobody is complaining about how much others love their pets. People have commented on how odd it seems for some to equate their love for a pet with others’ love for a child. To me it’s kind of creepy, and, toward the fringes, loopy. Love your pets all you want. Equate them with children, and you’ll get some feedback. Some people love their pets more than others. I wouldn’t worry about those who don’t have children thinking that the love they feel for their pets is somehow the same as the love one feels for their own children. They really don’t know. If, however, a person with a child says the love they feel for Fluffy equals/exceeds the love they feel for Junior-- well, that’s just crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/146 "2005-05-10T17:02:21Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Ok, I won’t. But, where did I do this? If it happened, it was totally inadvertent. I’m not seeing it either, **Lynn**. ---
**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, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/147 "2005-05-10T17:03:03Z")
Again, I guess I didn’t make myself clear. I seem to have a bad habit of that on this thread. When kids are in an tunnel that runs through an aquarium and are screaming, not because they are excited at seeing the creatures swimming around and over them, but just for the joy of screaming to hear the echoes, I think the parents are out of line for allowing it. I believe NurseCarmen is correct - it’s not the kids I dislike, it’s the parents. My cousin-in-law devised a nice revenge for the lady across the street from him who decided his freshly sodded front yard was the perfect place for her dobie to do his evcacuations.She didn’t let the dog out and he wandered over there- she walked himn over to their front yard on a leash. One evening he collected all the deposits and left them in front of all the doors to her house. Says he hasn’t had any problems since. He also said they don’t have any problem with flies because the woman’s back yard is so full of dogshit all the flies go there. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/148 "2005-05-10T17:04:23Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Oh, knock it off. You know damn well nobody is complaining about how much others love their pets. It sure as hell comes off that way. ---
**Author:** ![Calendar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@Calendar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calendar)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/149 "2005-05-10T17:04:26Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > Again, if someone comes onto your property and kills your pets, it is perfectly reasonable to presume that he is doing so to communicate a threat to **you** – which means, in most jurisdictions, that you are entitled to use deadly force to deal with the threat. Ahhh… But under “self-defense”, it is a love for one’s self, not the pet. Killing solely for the sake of, or under the guise of revenge for, the pet is crossing the line. ---
**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, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/150 "2005-05-10T17:04:24Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > Again, if someone comes onto your property and kills your pets, it is perfectly reasonable to presume that he is doing so to communicate a threat to **you** – which means, in most jurisdictions, that you are entitled to use deadly force to deal with the threat. Only if the person remains a threat to you. If someone runs over your dog/cat/pet anteater in your yard and departs, he/she is no longer a threat to you and therefore you are no longer entitled to use deadly force. ---
**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, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/151 "2005-05-10T17:05:50Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > Nonsense. If someone is inside my \*\*home \*_(which they would have to be, as that’s where my cats are at all times) and engaging in violence that puts me in fear for my life (killing a cat, clearly for the purpose of sending the message of willingness to kill humans_, does that), I can kill them in self-defense. It’s not pathological – it’s the Castle Doctrine. > > \*My mind is made up on this point, don’t bother arguing it. (bolding mine) Well, that’s a completely different argument. And I feel you’d be right. If some dolt kills your cat in your _yard_, would you do the same? Hell, if someone came into my house with a gun and shot a _dust bunnie_ I’d blow the fucker away. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/152 "2005-05-10T17:06:12Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Ok, I know I said I’d leave, but here is one last-ditch effort at instilling a little reason into this argument. For what it’s worth… > > **Scenario:** > Your neighbor, who is an ill-tempered asshole, decides that he can’t take your dog shitting on his lawn anymore, and deliberately runs your dog over with his SUV at the next available opportunity. Your beloved dog dies, bleeding and whimpering in your arms. > > Which of the following actions will _not_ get you arrested for homicide? > > A) Grab your sawed-off, 12-gauge shotgun and blow the sick fucker’s head off before he has a chance to escape. > > B) Call the police, report the crime, and allow the courts to pursue justice and mete out the appropriate punishment. Been watching CSI, have you? 😃 This thread makes me think I should dig up any thread about the guy who was sentenced to jail time for a road rage incident wherein he grabbed the other driver’s dog from her lap in her car and tossed it into the freeway… Wonder if the reactions would be/are any different? ---
**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, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/153 "2005-05-10T17:08:24Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Indeed there is. It’s unfortunate that I’ve met people who not only call refer to their cats as their children, but also treat them as such. I no longer assume that people who call their pets their children don’t also treat them as such. In what ways does my girlfriend treat her cats like children? Be specific. Give examples. Show your work. Spelling counts. > [@](#): > > You’re such a fucking tool. You made an unwarranted ad hominem attack on my girlfriend and that makes me the tool? > [@](#): > > Because I’ve never met someone who literally felt I wore my ass for a hat, nor have I ever met anyone who literally thought I felched goats. I have, unfortunately, met too many uptight, crazy cat people like you and your beau. But then, if they only creature I could relate to, either on an intellectual or emotional level, was a cat, I guess I might be a bit defensive, too. So now I can’t relate to people intellectually or emotionally because my girlfriend sometimes refers to her cats as her kids? Explain that. Try using facts. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/154 "2005-05-10T17:10:08Z")
> [@Boldface Type](#): > > Well, all everything exists in your head - but emotional representation is not exclusive to the limbic system. No, all everything does not exist in your head. You have, for example, no black hole in your head. I have no idea what you mean by “emotional representation”, but the limbic system is certainly the center of emotions, having developed in the lower mammals with the purpose of distinguishing what is agreeable from what is not. Animals exhibit ludic behavior, for example, because they find it pleasurable. Emotions can be analyzed and understood by the cerebrum, but they do not originate there. ---
**Author:** ![PinkMarabou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PinkMarabou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PinkMarabou)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/155 "2005-05-10T17:10:30Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > One can kill an animal. One can even maliciously kill an animal. One cannot murder an animal. Murder is the unlawful, premeditated killing of another human being. Oh Jesus fucking christ people. Must you nitpick everything? Does it make you feel like big boys? You kill my dog or any of my other pets on my property, you are a murderer. I don’t give a rats ass what the state deems it as, in my eyes you have murdered my pet. There are numerous sources that show animal killers and abusers go on to abuse and kill people. [From here.](http://www.arkonline.com/violence.html) > [@](#): > > Studies of prison inmates reveal that as many as 75% of violent offenders had early records of animal cruelty. There is also a high correlation between family violence and animal cruelty. A study in 1983 of New Jersey families referred to youth and family services for reasons of child abuse reported that 88% of cases had at least one member of the household who physically abused animals. An English researcher found that 83% of families reported for animal abuse also had children listed at high risk of abuse or neglect. [Also from here.](http://www.novavita.org/pages/animal.html) > [@](#): > > The American FBI analyzed the lives of serial killers and discovered that virtually all of them, as children and teens, had killed or tortured animals. Other research indicates consistent patterns of animal cruelty among perpetrators of wife abuse, child abuse and elder abuse. ---
**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, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/156 "2005-05-10T17:10:42Z")
> [@Calendar](#): > > Ahhh… But under “self-defense”, it is a love for one’s self, not the pet. Killing solely for the sake of, or under the guise of revenge for, the pet is crossing the line. A distinction without a difference. It is only because the pet is my pet on my property that the attack represents a threat against me. ---
**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, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/157 "2005-05-10T17:12:44Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > This thread makes me think I should dig up any thread about the guy who was sentenced to jail time for a road rage incident wherein he grabbed the other driver’s dog from her lap in her car and tossed it into the freeway… Wonder if the reactions would be/are any different? I had the same reaction to that incident – the guy was properly given severe punishment, not only for the animal abuse, but for conveying what amounted to a death threat to the dog owner. ---
**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, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/158 "2005-05-10T17:17:30Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > I don’t give a rats ass what the state deems it as, in my eyes you have murdered my pet. There are numerous sources that show animal killers and abusers go on to abuse and kill people. So because some studies have shown that children who have ingested lead paint have a higher likleyhood of ending up in prison, we should begin incarceration now? You’ve put yourself in a position of psychologist, prosecution, and executioner. And you would be charged with murder. Yet you still don’t see this as wrong in any way? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/159 "2005-05-10T17:18:41Z")
Perhaps if the woman had been directed to [this page](http://home.merlin.mb.ca/~stuparyk/) she could have relieved her emotional distress and things would have turned out better for the poor, poor man who has to pay so much money for being a stupid jackass. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/160 "2005-05-10T17:18:54Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > Again, if someone comes onto your property and kills your pets, it is perfectly reasonable to presume that he is doing so to communicate a threat to **you** – which means, in most jurisdictions, that you are entitled to use deadly force to deal with the threat. What about some psychopathic 12 year old that is throwing poison laced meat through your open front window for grins? This thread is ridiculous. I’m a cat lover. I own three cats currently and I have owned 6 others over the course of my life. I will always have cats and I feel that they are joy to have around. But they are pets. If I died and they had no food they would eat me. If I was tied down so I could not move a muscle and they had no food they would probably eat me alive. This is something that my daughter would never do. My love for my pets does not compare with the love I have for my children, my wife, my siblings, or even my friends. If someone broke into my house for any reason I would probably shoot them; I would have a reasonable fear for my life and my family and even my cats. If some psychopathic teenager into torturing animals somehow got a hold of my cats or poisoned them I would try to figure out some way to kick the shit out of them before calling the cops. That said, only a complete loon would try to kill them, at least in my not so humble opinion. Pop quiz: What kind of person would go to jail for 20 years for manslaughter because some killed their cat? A completely batshit one that needs some serious help! [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=7) [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=9)