No Relief for Emotional Distress for Loss of A Pet
I recently received a phone call inquiry regarding the availability of money for emotional damages available to the owner of a pet. The call was made from a Connecticut resident.
This issue, as we have previously discussed, is very state specific.
At least one case in Connecticut has denied such a recovery.
In Pantelopoulos v. Pantelopoulos, 49 Conn.Supp. 209 (2005), the issue before the Court was the death of the family dog.
At the end of a not so friendly divorce proceeding, the wife left the residence and also left the husband’s dog alone without food or water.
The dog did not survive and the distraught ex-husband sued for damages for emotional distress for the death of his dog.
The Court, applying the laws of both New Jersey and Connecticut found:
1) In order to prevail in a case for intentional infliction of emotional distress, four elements must be established: 1) that the actor intended to inflict emotional distress or that he knew or should have known that emotional distress was the likely result of his conduct; 2) that the conduct was extreme and outrageous; 3) that the defendant’s conduct was the cause of the plaintiff’s distress; 4) that the emotional distress sustained by the plaintiff was severe. Whether a defendant’s conduct is sufficient to satisfy the requirement that it be extreme and outrageous is initially a question for the court to determine; only where reasonable minds disagree does it become an issue for the jury.
2) There is no authority which supports the plaintiff’s argument that New Jersey recognizes an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim for the loss of a pet.
3) There is no New Jersey precedent permitting a pet owner to recover non-economic damages when a pet is negligently injured or killed.
4) Connecticut common law has never recognized a right to sue an individual for intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress resulting from injury to such property as a pet.
In this case, the Court denied all recovery for the death of the dog.
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