{"id":1702,"date":"2020-07-02T09:27:26","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T09:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/?p=1702"},"modified":"2020-07-02T09:27:26","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T09:27:26","slug":"can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you sue someone if their dog kills your cat?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pets are considered as a part of the family, gone are the days where cats are just pests controllers and where dogs are hunting companions. Millennials nowadays consider their pets as their children, a non-human who they did not create but would flip the world over if they are hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"display: none;\"><i class=\"ez-toc-glyphicon ez-toc-icon-toggle\"><\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#Negligence_or_Purposeful_Damage_Is_Still_Damage\" title=\"Negligence or Purposeful: Damage Is Still Damage\">Negligence or Purposeful: Damage Is Still Damage<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#It_wasnt_on_purpose_but_damage_is_done\" title=\"It wasn\u2019t on purpose but damage is done\">It wasn\u2019t on purpose but damage is done<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#Paula_Roemers_success_in_seeking_justice\" title=\"Paula Roemer\u2019s success in seeking justice\">Paula Roemer\u2019s success in seeking justice<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#Commonly_Asked_Questions\" title=\"Commonly Asked Questions\">Commonly Asked Questions<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#What_are_the_instances_that_you_can_sue_the_dog_owner\" title=\"What are the instances that you can sue the dog owner?\">What are the instances that you can sue the dog owner?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#How_do_courts_calculate_the_compensation_over_the_death_of_your_cat\" title=\"How do courts calculate the compensation over the death of your cat?\">How do courts calculate the compensation over the death of your cat?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#What_can_I_do_to_protect_my_cat_from_getting_attacked\" title=\"What can I do to protect my cat from getting attacked?\">What can I do to protect my cat from getting attacked?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Negligence_or_Purposeful_Damage_Is_Still_Damage\"><\/span>Negligence or Purposeful: Damage Is Still Damage<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In most states, legally a pet is considered a property. Pets are maintained, fed, and invested on. Like properties, if damaged, you can also sue the perpetrator due to negligence or purposeful hurting or killing of your unknowing feline friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"It_wasnt_on_purpose_but_damage_is_done\"><\/span>It wasn\u2019t on purpose but damage is done<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Dogs naturally are hunters. They like to hunt little animals even without the intention of eating them. That is why it will not come as a surprise that they like to chase small animals like rodents, raccoons, squirrels and cats. That is why dog owners should be responsible enough to always put them on leash and train them. Dogs who are trained are less likely to be aggressive towards other animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If another animal injures your cat, you can sue the owner of the animal for damaging your property due to negligence.According to Gjeten, a writer on a website called NOLO,<em> \u201cIn order to win a negligence lawsuit, you must prove that the defendant (the person you\u2019re suing) had a duty to be reasonably careful, didn\u2019t meet that duty, and\u2014as a direct result of that negligence\u2014caused harm to you as the injured animal\u2019s owner.\u201d <\/em>Their pets are their liabilities. The dog\u2019s owner usually shoulders the expenses like the hospital bills, medicines, or in worst cases they have to give you compensation to replace your cat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Paula_Roemers_success_in_seeking_justice\"><\/span>Paula Roemer\u2019s success in seeking justice<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Yofi was the name of Paula Roemers cat. She adopted Yofi when she saw the cat in Israel when she went there for a vacation. Yofi was dirty, malnourished and clearly thirsty. So she gave the pitiful cat some water and afterwards brought her into a loving home. Yofi tugged her heart in many ways. Roemer also had other animals at home, she had other cats and a dog. Her dog was well trained, and befriended Yofi right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seattle Times reported that a judge awarded Roemer $45,480 for compensation in the cat&#8217;s death. Roemer sued a dog owner over the death of her beloved cat. It was reported that the cat, Yofi, was hanging around the backyard when the neighbor&#8217;s dog escaped through the huge gaps of her neighbors fence and mauled her cat. Roemer was apprehensive to sue at first because she was told that \u201cit\u2019s just a cat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Judge Barbara Linde thought otherwise, the court hearing concluded with the decision that<em> \u201cRoemer will receive $30,000 in replacement value of her cat, $15,000 for emotional distress, $90 to recoup the cost of having Yofi cremated, $80 in medical expenses and $24.12 in interest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As The Seattle Times reported, the dog owner, Wallace Gray, pleaded guilty to the charges. Gray served 21 days in jail and three months under house arrest in line with animal control violation. However, Gray thought that the sentencing was too harsh on him. He said in an interview with The Seattle Times that \u201ccats eat birds and dogs eat cats.\u201d Roemer later said that she values her feline and canine friends more than she values other people. She was frustrated and could have taken out her frustrations on the dog that killed her cat but she chose to take the higher road and sued instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Commonly_Asked_Questions\"><\/span>Commonly Asked Questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_instances_that_you_can_sue_the_dog_owner\"><\/span>What are the instances that you can sue the dog owner?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Instances where you can sue for negligence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\"><li>If your cat is inside your property and the dog trespassed<\/li><li>If the dog is unleashed<\/li><li>The dog has previous violent tendencies towards smaller animals<\/li><li>If the dog is unsupervised while walking<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_courts_calculate_the_compensation_over_the_death_of_your_cat\"><\/span>How do courts calculate the compensation over the death of your cat?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Mary Randolph, an author of a blog called NOLO, enumerated the basis of courts in determining the compensation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Cost of treatment\/Veterinary bills-the owner of the dog will need to shoulder the medical expenses used to treat your cat. This will include veterinary doctor fees, medicines and others.<\/li><li>Pet worth-Randolph reported that there are three ways that courts will determine the worth of your pedigreed feline friend and these are:<ul><li>Fair Market Value-this means that the courts will take into consideration how much the cat will be sold in the market. The considerations for this is the age, breed, health and pedigree of your pet.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Replacement cost-the court would also grant the pet owner a compensation to replace the cat. According to Randolph, this can probably cost higher than market value because this will take into consideration the training and accomplishment of the cat (in case the cat is a showcase cat)<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Special economic value-The court will also consider the owner\u2019s loss of earnings from the services if the cat is pedigreed, or the cat\u2019s purpose is for breeding meaning that the cat owner is using the cat for stud service or for breeding purposes.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Sentimental Value and Loss of Companionship-for the non-pedigreed felines, the owner can also ask for compensation due to the loss of companionship and sentimental value. According to Randolph, a few courts are already taking a step towards recognizing that sentimental value can be an element in determining an animal\u2019s value.<\/li><li>Emotional distress to the owner-the court will also take into consideration the emotional turmoil that the death of the pet has brought upon him\/her.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_can_I_do_to_protect_my_cat_from_getting_attacked\"><\/span>What can I do to protect my cat from getting attacked?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the ways you can do this is by fencing your property. Cats are generally safer in their own backyard or front yard if it is fenced. You can also put your cat on a leash to train him\/her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat-2-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1705\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pets are considered as a part of the family, gone are the days where cats are just pests controllers and where dogs are hunting companions. Millennials nowadays consider their pets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can you sue someone if their dog kills your cat? [ Answer ]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can you sue someone if their dog kills your cat? [ Answer ]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pets are considered as a part of the family, gone are the days where cats are just pests controllers and where dogs are hunting companions. Millennials nowadays consider their pets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AnimalsA2Z.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-02T09:27:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat-1-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/\",\"name\":\"AnimalsA2Z.com\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat-1-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat-1-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":973,\"caption\":\"Can you sue someone if their dog kills your cat?\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/\",\"name\":\"Can you sue someone if their dog kills your cat? [ Answer ]\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-02T09:27:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-02T09:27:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/#\/schema\/person\/40209377c762bd7e66a7a961433e79cf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/can-you-sue-someone-if-their-dog-kills-your-cat\/#webpage\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/#\/schema\/person\/40209377c762bd7e66a7a961433e79cf\",\"name\":\"Rolf\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f426b88898e45cab2746f58ec14d18e4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f426b88898e45cab2746f58ec14d18e4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rolf\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalsa2z.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}