My Landlord Injured My Dog While Installing a Refrigerator When No One Was Home

[You Are Guilty]

While it is true that the current trend (nationally and locally) is towards 'recognizing' the intrinsic value of a pet over property, taken directly from the case quincy cited above:

While the dog owners of New York might uniformly regard their pets as being far more than mere property, the law of the State of New York is in many ways still largely at odds with that view. The prevailing law, which has been slow to evolve, is that, irrespective of how strongly people may feel, a dog is in fact personal property—sometimes referred to as “chattel”—just like a car or a table [internal cites omitted]

 

[quincy]

While it is true that the current trend (nationally and locally) is towards 'recognizing' the intrinsic value of a pet over property, taken directly from the case quincy cited above:

Yes, that was taken from the case I cited, but that portion does not accurately reflect the Court's Opinion. On the contrary, the Court said: "The standard to be applied will be what is 'best for all concerned,' the standard utilized in Raymond. In accordance with that standard, each side will have the opportunity to prove not only why she will benefit from having Joey in her life but why Joey has a better chance of living, prospering, loving and being loved in the care of one spouse as opposed to the other."

Not quite a view of a dog as chattel.

I like the Footnotes - especially #5.

 

[You Are Guilty]

One judge's disagreement with how the law "is" doesn't really do much except move, ever so slightly, the standard towards "animals as pets" instead of "animals as property".

(Not to mention that the matrimonial parts here are full of Crusader Judges).

 

[davew128]

Yeah, for $5k, I hope the dog got a bionic replacement leg.

Perhaps it is.

OP is your dog named Maximilian and usually responds to women who look like Lindsay Wagner?

 

[quincy]

One judge's disagreement with how the law "is" doesn't really do much except move, ever so slightly, the standard towards "animals as pets" instead of "animals as property".

(Not to mention that the matrimonial parts here are full of Crusader Judges).

Oh, shoot. I forgot that NY's Supreme Courts are not supreme.

I have a fondness for your state's Crusader Judges.

 

[justalayman]

so, even though it is likely the LL injured the dog (and I think it would be provable to the level required to prevail), I still do not see the landlord being liable for the damages simply because unless he hurt the dog intentionally, the damages were caused by the OP allowing the dog to run free in the apartment during a time he knew the LL was intending on delivering a refrigerator. So the dog ran around, got his paw pinched under the wheel of the dolly, stepped on as he ran up behind the guy toting the refrigerator, or some other situation where simply put; due to the OP not having the dog restrained, it was allowed to get in the way and it got hurt.


If OP wants to be pissed at anybody, it sounds like he should be pissed at the roommate for giving the LL the green light based on him/her intending on being at the apartment.

It is not the obligation of the LL to babysit the dog. Just not intentionally injure it and take reasonable steps to avoid it escaping.