California Business Litigation Attorney BlogEmotional Distress Damages Are Awarded for Injury to Family Pet: Dog, Cat and Horse Owners Are Vindicated!
Last Friday, in Plotnik v. Meihaus, the Court of Appeal recognized that under California law, pet owners may recover for “mental suffering” which is caused if another person intentionally injures or kills their animal. This is a case that we have been watching because of its impact on California horse law and the horse industry.
Among the cases cited by the court in upholding over $160,000 in damages and over $93,000 in attorney fees was the 2009 case of Jamgotchian v. Slender (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 1384 in which a horse owner sued the track steward for trespass when the horse was injured in a race after the steward rejected the owner’s request that the horse be scratched from the race. The court looked at the growing trend across the country allowing pet owners to recover for mental suffering caused by another’s wrongful acts that result in injury or death of a beloved animal including the nightmarish Kentucky case, Burgess v. Taylor (2001) 44 S.W.3d 806 in which a lessor under a “feed lease” sold the leased horses for slaughter and then lied about it to the owner.
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