Peru-2022-Caso Perrita Munay- Resolución 10, Juzgado Civil de Santiago-Spanish.pdf (425.99 KB)
In this case, the plaintiff’s dog, a hybrid breed, was attacked and seriously injured by the defendant’s dogs, two rottweilers. The rottweilers were unleashed, unmuzzled, and attacked the plaintiff’s dog allegedly after the plaintiff’s dog provoked the rottweilers by barking at them. The defendant’s rottweilers were considered a “potentially dangerous breed,” and the defendant had paperwork establishing that she was aware of this and that she was responsible for them.
The court discussed appropriate damages to award to the plaintiff for her emotional suffering and consequential expenses after the attack. It noted that emotional damage is the “pain, suffering, and even subjective affliction experienced in the face of an adverse event.” The court reasoned that the suffering the plaintiff experienced was due to the attack on her family, within which her dog is incorporated under the idea of a multispecies family. The court reasoned that “[the dog] cannot be equated only as an object or property of the plaintiff…under the rule of real rights…it must be understood that there is a bond of different meaning between people who have a bond with domestic animals [pets]….” The court goes on to discuss legislation that establishes the necessary conditions to protect both wild and domestic animals, and to recognize them as “sensitive” animals that deserve to be treated fairly and live in appropriate conditions.
The court awarded moral and consequential damages to the plaintiff under the concept of a multispecies family as a result of the attack on her dog by the defendant’s dogs.