Question

Questions 40 - 41 are based on the following fact pattern:

Poor “Lucky,” the 12 year-old recently neutered, partially blind pit bull with a missing right ear, and missing tail, his luck finally ran out – a car accidentally ran a stop sign and ran over Lucky while he was being walked by his owner.   Lucky’s owner was not injured. Lucky’s owner rushed Lucky to the veterinarian and received a $10,000 bill. The owner’s best friend, Lucky, could not be saved.

40.    What damages are available to Lucky’s owner.

a. The fair market value of a 12 year-old recently neutered, partially blind pit bull with a missing right

ear, and missing tail.

b. Emotional distress damages for witnessing Lucky being run over by a car.

c. Loss of companionship damages

d. $10,000 for the veterinarian bill.

e. A and D are correct.

ANSWER: __________

41.    Under California law, Lucky is considered to be:

a.     Personal property entitling the owner to economic damages for Lucky’s death.

b.     Unique property entitling the owner to non-economic damages for Lucky’s death.

c.     Special property entitling the owner to economic and non-economic damages for Lucky’s death.

d.     Unique property entitling the owner to special damages for Lucky’s death.

ANSWER: __________

Answer 1

Q: 40. What damages are available to Lucky’s owner.

A: e. A and D are correct.

Reason: This can actually vary from state-to-state and court-to-court depending on a lot of factors but the bottomline would be that a pet owner can expect the cost of treatment and a fair market value for the loss of their pets due to negligent driving accidents. In some states, they may be compensated for the emotional distress and loss of companionship but that is not the norm and rather the exception. This is why the option 'e' has been selected as the answer here since one can choose only one correct option.

Q: 41. Under California law, Lucky is considered to be:

A: a. Personal property entitling the owner to economic damages for Lucky’s death.

Reason: Under California law and most U.S. states laws pets are to be considered and treated as private property from a legal perspective.