Pets as Personal Property

August 1, 2011

We recently had a complaint filed regarding injury to a cat. The neighbor's dog came onto the residence of the cat's owners and mauled the cat. The cat survived with over $1500 in vet bills. The dog owner's insurance carrier is only offering payment of $600 basing it on the cat being a chattel. I am confused as I understood that economic expenses such as the vet bills should be paid in full, while the noneconomic bills could be paid up to the fair market value of the property. Your insight would be greatly appreciated.

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