In many households, dogs and cats are treated like family. People let pets sleep in their beds and display framed photographs of them on their office desks. Pets are playmates and therapists. They've been the subject of custody disputes in divorces, and named beneficiaries in wills.
Pet owners might be genuinely devoted to their animal companions, but in Pennsylvania, pets are legally considered property, no matter how much people try to humanize them.
A state lawmaker wants to change that.
Rep. Peter Daley, a Democrat who represents parts of Washington and Fayette counties, has introduced a bill to redefine dogs and cats as "companions," and allow people to sue for emotional distress and loss of companionship if a pet is injured or killed intentionally, or through a reckless or negligent act or omission.
To recover damages for a pet's death, the owner would have to prove mental anguish and loss of comfort and protection. Daley's legislation allows money for veterinary care, burial expenses, court costs and attorney fees. It also provides for punitive damages, capped at $2,500, and injunctive relief from wrongful killing or injury of animals.
"If I would go to your house and kill your dog, under current law I would have to compensate you only for the replacement value of the dog," Daley said. "If someone accidentally does it, that's a lot different than if someone poisons your dog or cat. There seemed to be a hole in the law, concerning compensating people."
House Bill 2951 also would amend the state dog law to toughen penalties for attacks by dogs, and establish guidelines for keeping potentially dangerous dogs. A dog owner whose animal attacks and severely injures a person would be charged with a felony, instead of a misdemeanor. A dog attack that kills a person could lead to involuntary manslaughter charges against the owner.
The bill, with 21 co-sponsors, was referred earlier this month to the House Judiciary Committee. Daley said he will reintroduce it in January, after the new legislative session begins.
"The legislation is worthy of full consideration and perhaps a hearing. Dangerous dogs are a problem," said Rep. Don Walko, D-North Side, a co-sponsor and member of the judiciary committee.
Pennsylvania spends $5 million a year to enforce its dog law and investigate complaints, said Mary Bender, director of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement in Harrisburg. The agency issues about 1 million dog licenses annually.
"A dog is not declared dangerous just because it bites somebody. You have to be charged with harboring a dangerous dog, and a judge has to find you guilty of that," Bender said. "Then there are certain (restraint) requirements that have to be met, if you intend to keep the dog."
State dog wardens do not investigate animal cruelty cases; that's the job of police officers who work for humane societies. Locally, neglect cases far outweigh instances in which pets or other domesticated animals are deliberately abused or killed, said Shelley Rosenberg, who dispatches investigators for the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society in Pittsburgh.
"It does happen, but it's not common," Rosenberg said. "And if we have no witness or confession, there's nothing more we can do. People who will kill or severely injure an animal tend to be violent, and if there is a witness, they tend to be neighbors, and they're afraid."
