Winter 2007 Rutgers Journal of Law & Public Policy Vol 4:2 314 NOT A LIVING ROOM SOFA: 1 CHANGING THE LEGAL STATUS OF COMPANION ANIMALS Susan J. Hankin ∗ Introduction ............................................................. 315 Part I: Traditional View of Animals as Property ....... 321 Part II: Changes in Damage Awards ......................... 325 A. Reasonable Veterinary Expenses ................................... 328 B. Actual Value to Owner .................................................... 329 C. Mental Suffering of Owners as an Element of Damages ...................................................... 332 D. Going Beyond the Changes Seen in the Courts ............. 337 1. Changes in Statutory Law ........................................ 338 2. Proposals for Change Set Forth by Commentators..341 Part III: Recognizing a Change in the Legal Status of Companion Animals............................................. 343 1 See Rabideau v. City of Racine, 627 N.W.2d 795, 798 (Wis. 2001) (footnote omitted) (“A companion dog is not a fungible item, equivalent to other items of personal property. A companion dog is not a living room sofa or dining room furniture. This term inadequately and inaccurately describes the relationship between a human and a dog.”). ∗ Law School Associate Professor, University of Maryland School of Law. The author would like to thank Chelsey Moscati for her research assistance and for all of her help in shaping the presentation that led to this article, Dionne Koller for her many helpful comments, Susan McCarty for her research assistance, and Deans Karen Rothenberg and Richard Boldt for their generous support of this article. This article was developed from an earlier presentation: Susan J. Hankin, From Property Owner to Guardian: The Changing Legal Relationship between People and Their Companion Animals, Panel Session at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, (Oct. 28, 2004).
Changing the status of companion animals
Jul 10, 2023
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