# 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:** 9
**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, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/161 "2005-05-10T17:20:48Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > > [@tdn](#): > > > > I think the confusion is primarily on the part of the people who vociferously claim that cats are not humans. It is these people who seem to be having difficulty with reality. They seem to think that cat lovers are a real threat to humanity somehow. > > Either you’re arguing against straw men or you have a serious problem with reading comprehension. No one has argued the point you’re so successfully arguing against, because that point would be stupid. Everyone knows a cat and a child are physically different - if you’re arguing something everyone already knows and agrees with, you’re just wasting your metaphorical breath. The argument is that a cat and a child are not _equivalent_ - the relationships a person has with their “furbaby” and their “fleshbaby” are different, and qualitatively different at that. You have as much as admitted this several times already. Since you agree with our point, why do you keep arguing? If I may, you’re arguing past each other, as illustrated by **Neurotik** : > [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/162 "2005-05-10T17:20:57Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > 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. You see, I don’t get the impression that you are talking about killing this hypothetical roving pet killer out of a sense of duty to protect society. It sounds to me more like you are talking about offing him as revenge for your cat. You can define murder “in your own eyes” any way you like, but society (in the form of the state) does not consider killing animals to be murder. There are criminal penalties specifically for unlawfully killing animals or for cruelty to animals. Your HRPK could/would be prosecuted for these as well as other charges depending on how said cat killing was accomplished. Your killing of the HRPK, on the other hand, would be investigated as a homicide and possibly prosecuted as such. ---
**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, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/163 "2005-05-10T17:21:02Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > 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. If you kill someone for killing your pet, you are the murderer not the animal killer. I really don’t give a flying fuck whether you feel justified or not… if you actually do what you’ve said, you would end up in prison, as you would belong. I think you are bat-shit crazy, but until you actually do something to justify it, I would not demand you be institutionalized. ---
**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, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/164 "2005-05-10T17:23:43Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > 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) > > [Also from here.](http://www.novavita.org/pages/animal.html) Don’t sociopaths have a strange affinity with animals? ---
**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, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/165 "2005-05-10T17:25:43Z")
> [@Boldface Type](#): > > Given the choice between one of my cats being decapitated and the head-lopping of a random child with whom I’m unaquainted, well, the kid’s mincemeat. It’s a pity you feel that way. I hope you seek help. Or species reassignment. ---
**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, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/166 "2005-05-10T17:27:31Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > 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. Qué? If Joe Badguy shows up and tries to off your cat, and you decide to kill him because you believe you are next - fine. Self defense. If you decide to kill him to prevent him from finishing the job on your cat, or in its honour - misplaced priorities. ---
**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, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/167 "2005-05-10T17:34:55Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > you and your crazy girlfriend If you want to insult me, fine. Go ahead. But to insult someone’s off-board girlfriend is over the line. Even you should know that. Either back up your assertion or retract it. ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/168 "2005-05-10T17:35:43Z")
Wow,$30,000. Must’ve been the best chocolate point ever. ---
**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, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/169 "2005-05-10T17:36:39Z")
I give up with you people. You don’t seem to understand that if you maliciously cause harm to me, my family, or my pets I will not be respisible for my actions. Out of either self-defense or temporary insanity, I will make sure you do not leave my property without being hauled away on a stretcher. Fuck you all. I used to have respect for you and think you all were intelligent. Now I realize you are nothing more than a big clique. It’s too bad, but the rose glasses are off now. ---
**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, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/170 "2005-05-10T17:36:58Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > If I may, you’re arguing past each other, as illustrated by **Neurotik** : We probably are. But at the same time, the statement you quote by Neurotik is one I’m waiting for him to justify. ---
**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, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/171 "2005-05-10T17:40:17Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > I give up with you people. You don’t seem to understand that if you maliciously cause harm to me, my family, or my pets I will not be respisible for my actions. Out of either self-defense or temporary insanity, I will make sure you do not leave my property without being hauled away on a stretcher. > > Fuck you all. I used to have respect for you and think you all were intelligent. Now I realize you are nothing more than a big clique. It’s too bad, but the rose glasses are off now. Oh fucking Whaaaaa. Get the fuck over it. You do not get to kill people because someone runs over your fucking dog. Life sucks, get a fucking helmet. ---
**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, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/172 "2005-05-10T17:40:18Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > You don’t seem to understand that if you maliciously cause harm to me, fine. > [@](#): > > my family, fine > [@](#): > > or my pets point of contention. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/173 "2005-05-10T17:41:29Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > A pet is part of the family. You never plan to get so attached, but you do. It’s not sick or crazy, it’s normal. I am very attached to my various critters, and I have plenty - dogs, cats, even chickens. They’re fun to be around, they’re fun to watch, and each in its own way, does show affection. To find a family pet mauled is upsetting - you raise and take care of it for years, and if you don’t feel anything, then something is wrong with you. > > The settlement seems way too high. But, according to the OP, this dog owner had let the chow roam free repeatedly and didn’t care about the damage it caused or might cause. In that case, it looks like the judge was interested in teaching the guy a harsh lesson. I know in many farming communities, they would have followed the Three S policy - shoot, shovel, shut up. They have plenty of experience with dogs that the owners refuse to control, and the dogs tend to mangle livestock. So they shoot it. All the dog owner had to do, was exercise the same control over his dog that most of us do. Keep it with you, or in a fenced yard. Don’t let it roam free on the streets. He chose not to, and then chose not to appear in court. Now he pays. Resurrecting this post from way back on page 2 because it’s a voice of sanity among the increasingly shrill hysterics. I’ve currently got seven indoor cats and two horses that I board in the next town over but do the care of. I love 'em all and they all express affection for me, even when I don’t have food in hand. They take the place in my life that children would as far as nurturing, and giving and getting affection. But they’re not children, they’re individuals of their own species. If anyone were to harm them it would hurt me terribly. When my old horse dies, from whatever cause, I’m going to be devastated – the bond with a horse is different and much greater, I’d argue, than that with a cat. I can’t speak to the human/dog bond since I’ve never been in that position. But would I kill for my animals? I daresay not – although if I were to witness one of them being attacked by another animal or a human, I’d do whatever it took to rescue them, including physical violence sufficient to stop the attack. That would be an immediate emotional response to harm inflicted on a creature I love – love not as a child/child substitute, but as a dear companion. ---
**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, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/174 "2005-05-10T17:46:10Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > We probably are. But at the same time, the statement you quote by Neurotik is one I’m waiting for him to justify. It’s also a perfect example of how your argument got where it did. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/175 "2005-05-10T17:51:18Z")
> [@Boldface Type](#): > > Well, I think it is reasonable to hope that a parent will love their children more than their pets. However, I think it is irrational to love a random human over one’s own pets. Given the choice between one of my cats being decapitated and the head-lopping of a random child with whom I’m unaquainted, well, the kid’s mincemeat. . I’m only going to say that I still have a really hard time swallowing that some people can not only think this way, but also have no issue advocating this position. It still distress me to think that given the choice, some people would have a strange child dying rather than their pet. And would publically admit so much without shame. It’s just beyond my understanding. ---
**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, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/176 "2005-05-10T17:51:33Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > I give up with you people. You don’t seem to understand that if you maliciously cause harm to me, my family, or my pets I will not be respisible for my actions. Out of either self-defense or temporary insanity, I will make sure you do not leave my property without being hauled away on a stretcher. > > Fuck you all. I used to have respect for you and think you all were intelligent. Now I realize you are nothing more than a big clique. It’s too bad, but the rose glasses are off now. Having posted this here, if the prosecution finds it you’ll have a hard time pleading temporary insanity. You have been informed it is wrong and even outside the “passion of the moment” think it is the proper thing to do. That isn’t temporary insanity. Whether it is self defense depends on the jury buying that there was a real and current risk to yourself. Once you’ve exhausted those two options we are into manslaughter (not likely, since it would need to be accidental) or murder. Hope you don’t live in a capital punishment state or you may find the state’s ideas of vengence to be similar to yours. ---
**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, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/177 "2005-05-10T17:53:00Z")
I would just like to clarify that this thread is not about cat hating. If you were to find a dog harming your beloved family pet, I would have no qualms if you blew the dog away. And I find the dog owner in this case to be a supreme ass. I love the judgement in that I can point at him and give a hearty Nelson Muntz ‘Ha-ha’. But there’s no way the judgement will stand up, and it shouldn’t. 45k is just too much. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/178 "2005-05-10T17:54:03Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > I give up with you people. You don’t seem to understand that if you maliciously cause harm to me, my family, or my pets I will not be respisible for my actions. Out of either self-defense or temporary insanity, I will make sure you do not leave my property without being hauled away on a stretcher. > > Fuck you all. I used to have respect for you and think you all were intelligent. Now I realize you are nothing more than a big clique. It’s too bad, but the rose glasses are off now. Uh-oh. _Now_ we’re in trouble. The rose glasses are off; pretty soon the gloves will be off, too. We’ll be knocked out, pinned beneath **PinkMarabou** ’s apoplectic rage, just like being pinned under a snowmobile when it flips over just as we were happily racing over the tundra. At night, the ice weasels come. I sort of wish that “respisible” was a real word. What might it mean? Surely it could express something useful. Dopers, I do apologize for not leaving this thread when I should have, when I said I would. Sheesh. Sometimes, I just can’t believe myself. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/179 "2005-05-10T17:55:58Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > I give up with you people. You don’t seem to understand that if you maliciously cause harm to me, my family, or my pets I will not be respisible for my actions. Out of either self-defense or temporary insanity, I will make sure you do not leave my property without being hauled away on a stretcher. Umm… this here makes it premeditated. When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. “Don’t worry, snoogly-boogly-kitty-witty. Momma’s got Mister .357 _right here_! And if that bad, _BAD_ man gets any closer to Momma and her precious, _PRECIOUS_ kitty-witty, then that bad man is going to look _JUST_ like the Swiss Cheese that Momma took out of the foil she used to make her pretty _HAT_, yes!” Give me a break. I’m getting a big ol’ belly-laugh out of imagining you as that rat-dog-walking woman Ken’s after in _A Fish Called Wanda_. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-gets-a-bloody-fortune-for-emotional-distress-after-her-cat-is-mauled-by-a-dog/303200/180 "2005-05-10T17:56:11Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I’m only going to say that I still have a really hard time swallowing that some people can not only think this way, but also have no issue advocating this position. > > It still distress me to think that given the choice, some people would have a strange child dying rather than their pet. And would publically admit so much without shame. It’s just beyond my understanding. I’m with you, **clairobscur**. I find vengeance and vigilante-style thinking extremely abhorrent. [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=8) [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=10)