How much is your pet worth?
Owners will get compensation for contaminated pet food. They won’t get money for pain and suffering related losing a pet in the food recall. Can you assign a dollar value to losing a pet? Read this Associated Press article, then share your thoughts.
By PATRICK O’DONNELL
Carol Miller will likely be reimbursed for her expenses after her Norwegian elkhound Elkie died last year from eating contaminated pet food.
She just won’t get an apology or anything for the emotional cost.
Owners of the countless pets sickened or killed by contaminated food last year have found mixed news in their mailboxes over the last week. A tentative settlement of a class action lawsuit against the makers and sellers of the tainted food will pay $24 million to cover veterinary bills, medications, burial expenses and the costs of replacing lost pets.
Miller, of Olmsted Township, Ohio, expects to be reimbursed for the Elkie’s cremation and continuing tests for her other dog, but not the pain of losing what she considered a member of her family.
”It’s a shame how it is coming out,” she said. “I had my dog for 15 years. They can’t put a value on what she was worth to us.”
The exact number of pets affected by contaminated food last year is not known, but Sherrie Savett, a lawyer for pet owners, estimated that 1,500 animals died and several times that were sickened with severe kidney and urinary tract disorders.
Those illnesses, which become known in March 2006, led to a voluntary manufacturer’s recall of about 1 percent of the nation’s pet food from major retailers like Wal Mart, COSTCO, Target and PetSmart.
Investigations found contaminated wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate — items used in dry food and to thicken gravy in wet dog and cat food — in more than 90 varieties made by the Ontario, Canada, firm Menu Foods and its subsidiaries. Those products are sold under many brands, including Eukanuba, Iams and Hills Science Diet.
Other firms, including Nestle-Purina, which makes Alpo, and Del Monte, which makes some store brands, also used contaminated ingredients.
The contamination with melamine, a chemical used in plastic manufacturing, was traced to a plant in China, which has since been closed.
Savett said the settlement is “excellent” because “there will be substantial recovery of economic losses.”
Savett said lawyers would have to prove intentional wrongdoing to win any punitive damages. She also said emotional damages were never possible because most states do not recognize emotional value of pets.
”The law considers animals as property,” she said.
Janine Anderson of Lakewood, Ohio, who has to give her five cats continuing care and IV treatments to keep them alive, started off expecting significant compensation from makers of her cats’ food.
”I expected them to do something for my time away from work or the emotional impact,” she said. But she quickly learned to give that hope up.
Anderson settled with cat food brand Nutro months ago for about half of the $11,000 she had spent on care for her cats to that point. She signed off on pursuing any further claims.
But the current settlement allows people who have settled on their own to seek reimbursement for any expenses not covered by their own agreements.
”I hope I can get some more money to help the boys out,” she said, noting her expenses have topped $20,000.
And Miller said she’ll dig up old receipts and fill out an eight-page claim form by the November deadline to try and recover her costs from Elkie’s death.
Because her dog died a week before the recall, she did no necropsy and did not save her cremation receipts. Savett said owners can receive both documented costs and then up to $900 in undocumented ones.
But whatever she receives, Miller will not be satisfied.
”They can’t put a price on 15 years of having her … of my kids taking her to show and tell,” she said, her voice choking. “It’s upsetting to me. She wasn’t just a dog to us. She was part of our family.”
(Patrick O’Donnell is a reporter for The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. He can be contacted at paodonnell@plaind.com.)
Blog: What’s your pet eating?
Also, check out the latest story about how dogs and cats feel the bite of home foreclosures (Foreclosure pets story). Local shelters notice a rise in the number of pets turned in by owners who can’t afford to keep them.
Photo by Erik Lesser / AJC Special
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I think pets are as valuable to some people as human children are to others. The pay out should be thought of the same-in my humble opinion. I don’t have human children but do have furry ones and they mean the world to me. When you lose something that you loved, the emotional feeling of loss is the same.
(I know some people are going to challenge me on comparing humans to animals. My reponse is that humans ARE animals too and nobody can tell anyone else who or what deserves any more love than the other)
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All I can say is, even though my cat can be ornery sometimes, I wouldn’t take a million dollars for him.
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I once turned down a $5000 offer for my trained lab.Strangely enough,the 10 year old untrained one I now have has about $5000 invested in him.It costs about a dollar a day to feed my two cats.They’re 3 years old,so they have cost me about $1400 to get them this far,so I guess that’s their monetary value.
I used to carry accidental death insurance on my hunting labs,at about $25 dollars for $5000 dollar coverage.Fortunately I never had to use it.
On a personal note,they’re worth far more to me than their monetary value.
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I agree with “The Behaviorist”. My adopted mutt has been with us for 5 years. He is “PRICELESS”…period. The love this dog gives us everyday even when we don’t feel like being bothered is equal to or better than human love. His love is absolutely unconditional.
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My dogs are worth the world to me.
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You can’t put a price on love, human or animal.
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I have just finished reading the article regarding people leaving their animals at shelters because they can no longer care for them because of foreclosures or some other thing. I cannot for the life of me see how these people can just leave their beloved pets to most likely be euthanized……..I would no more leave my dog, (pet) at a shelter…if I was living on the street I would find some way to take care of my baby…..she is part of our family! ….I just can’t believe that people would do that! And to leave them locked up or tied up in a yard………people should be put in jail for doing that..to leave them to slowly starve to death, is horrible! My motto is, “Where there is a will, there is a way” to keeping your families together in time of crisis and that includes your pets! Thank you
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I would not take any amount of money for my cats. They mean the world to me. On another note, I just read the article about shelters having to euthanize animals taken in and the overcrowding because of the foreclosure situation. Please, please, have your pets spayed or neutered. While we all love our pets dearly, we all know the shelters are overcrowded and the likely result will be euthanasia to these wonderful 4-legged friends.
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I agree with you Cat, I could never turn my animals over to a shelter. They’d have to pry them from my cold, dead hands!!!!
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My big old lab-pyr cross is worth about $12, mostly because he’s wearing a $10 collar. But seriously, you can’t put a price on a pet. I mean, I know how much I paid for him, and could give an approximate amount I’ve spent on vet bills & food over the years, but no dollar amount could reimburse me if I lost him due to someone else’s negligence. An insurance adjuster would tell you that a mixed breed is worthless in monetary terms, but that’s hardly the real issue.
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I know how attached we get with our animals , i have a black lab i have had for 6years he is like one of my children which i have 2 grown girls , i like my rudy more than i like most people to be honest , i hope these people that lost there animals get everything that is comming to them and then some this was a aweful thing that happened
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My dogs are priceless, even the mutt. The hunting dogs are extremely valuable $$-wise, but in terms of love and devotion, there is no way to reimburse me for them. I turned down 10K for one of my dogs, never had to think about the offer.
Having said that, please do some research on what you feed your animals. There are some foods out there that are purely crap…and are pushed as “excellent food”…read up and see what is in your dog/cat’s food. House brands are usually crap…dead animals, sick and injured animals, it is aw ful.
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I read the story too, in tears, about the guy that had to leave his four small dogs. I won’t pass judgement on the poor guy, I don’t know all of his story, I have not walked in his shoes. However, it would rip my heart out to have to do what he did and I am sure it hurt him too. I hope the shelter was a no kill shelter. I can’t take in another pet, I am maxed out but I do try to help various resuce organizations with a check as often as I can to help. At least these pets were taken to a shelter. I saw the news two weeks ago about people going to forclosed homes to rescue the pets the owners just walked away from and left to die. Now those people, they deserve all the hard luck life deals to them if you can walk away from a pet and let it die a slow death by starvation. Those people should burn in hell.
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Our cat (a former stray who adopted us) is priceless but so far he’s probably cost us about $2,500. The bulk of that stems from the neighborhood prize fight he lost with a neighboring cat. Needless to say his life as an indoor-only cat began shortly thereafter.
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Our “shelter dog” is part of the family. As such, he recently protected his family when he accosted two youths who decided to spend their summer stealing other people’s hard earned property by entering through the dog door in our back entrance. Once they gained entry to the home, our free home security system named Reggie greeted them with a friendly hello and proceeded to bite their ankles as they ripped the door off the hinges in order to get out of the house. We would love for Reggie to be able to ID the idiots in a lineup but…well, you know. I believe that shelter dogs know and appreciate the second chance they have been given and give back twice the love and appreciation. We will only adopt from shelters from now on. We love our Reggie.
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I would not take $1M for my labradoodle. He is one of my best friends, always there for me. Loyal and loving as the day is long.
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Marriages break up, husbands or wives leave you, the neighbors will feel sorry for you for a while buy your dog (as mine will) will love you and be devoted to you no matter what. There is no conditions on their love and the give it freely.my mutt Dooley (I found him running around a parking lot on Buford Hwy after a car load of Mexicans dumped him)is the best friend I ever had. There can be no price put on that kind of love and devotion.
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i’m sorry to hear about people’s loss in regards to the pet food debacle. one way maybe to honor the memory of a pet is to try and save others of their kind. the previous story of abandoned and families that must give up pets in atlanta shows how much need is out there.
my wife and i have two rescue greyhounds and have just accepted a foster greyhound. the foster will make someone a great a loving pet.
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My wife’s aunt is a “dog person” like some who have posted here and it still amazes me to know there are people who equate dogs to being almost human. They are not human. They are not babies. They are dogs. They are property. Sometimes people are forced to give them up. No matter how beloved and perfect your dog is, it is still a dog and one day it’ll probably eat something out of your bathroom trash can and get very sick or even worse. Some of you folks need hobbies.
Back on topic–our 2-1/2 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a member of our family. We have 3 children, but our Cavalier considers herself to be the 4th. She sleeps on our bed and loves everyone. That being said, she was $1200 then and I could replace her for about $1500 today if something horrible happened to her. I hope that won’t be necessary for a while.
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This all has to be put in perspective. Even if we all agree that our pets are priceless to us (which I will agree with– I wouldn’t accept all the money in the world for my four dogs), even putting a price on human life is difficult to do for a court, let alone the life of a pet. Think about wrongful death suits and how a value is put on a person based on their age, earning potential, etc.
It is controversial when done for humans, and since animals are property, it will be a long time coming before we see this kind of valuation for a pet.
In my mind, though, it could be done as pain and suffering for the human owner due to the loss of a cherished pet without having to turn pets into something other than property. Pets can’t be considered humans under the law (I’m sorry, I love my dogs with all my heart, but I understand that they are not human), but if they are not property, what are they? A new category would have to be made, and what a can of worms that is!
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I agree with everyone here who would not ever part with their pets. We have 3 strays, found on the side of roads, a poodle and
two mutts and they mean the world to me! I thank the lord every day for my doggies because of their unconditonal love they give us!
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I have a Black Mouth Cur I hog hunt with that is priceless. He loves hog hunting like no other dog I’ve owned.
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Clay, to each their own. Some of us value non human animals as much or more so than humans. I’ll be the first to say that I often feel that way.
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Priceless - “neighborhood prize fight”
That was so funny, I almost spit coffee on my monitor…….thanks for the Friday laugh…..
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Behaviorist, there are places in India, where they feed grain to rats while children go hungry. For you to somehow value animals over humans says alot. Either the people around you leave much to be desired or therapy for you might be in order.
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