Vt. Court Weighs What a Dog's Love Is Worth

Dec. 17, 2009— -- What's a dog's love worth?

That's the question before the Vermont Supreme Court today in a case that could create a new legal doctrine for animal lovers who sue when their beloved pets die from acts of malicious intent.

Sarah and Denis Scheele of Annapolis, Md., who brought the case, lost their mixed-breed dog "Shadow" in 2003 when a man fatally shot him after the pet wandering into his yard.

Lewis Dustin, 76, of Northfield, Vt., pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty and was given a year probation. He also was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and pay $4,000 to the Scheeles for the costs of adoption, medical bills and cremation.

But the Scheeles say that doesn't come close to covering the emotional cost inflicted by the traumatic incident and loss of companionship, equating the death of Shadow to the death of a child.

"Shadow was our little boy, our son, our child," Sarah Scheele wrote on her Web site JusticeforShadow.com. "We loved him as if he were our own flesh and blood."

The couple filed a civil suit against Dustin in 2006, pressing the courts to recognize Shadow as a "member of the family, not mere property." They are seeking $6,000 in damages for "emotional distress" and loss of the "solace, affection, friendship, and love that they shared" with Shadow.

David Blythe, Dustin's lawyer, told ABCNews.com that what the Scheele's are asking for is unprecedented.

"The Vermont rule, which is consistent around the country, is that animals including pets are personal property, and if someone or something causes the death of an animal, you do not recover emotional distress damages," he said.

The Scheeles' lawyer Heidi Groff told ABCNews.com the Vermont high court has left the door open for pursuit of damages in situations like this one.

"The Vermont Supreme Court has previously said...that they recognize a special relationship between dogs and their owners and that that is a unique relationship that should and could be recognized by the court," she said.

Lawyers for both sides say neither Dustin nor the Scheeles dispute the facts of the incident, which occurred during the Scheeles' July 2003 visit to relatives in Northfield, Vt., a small town south of Montpelier.

Accounts provided by both sides indicate Shadow wandered out of sight of the Scheeles and into the neighboring yard of Dustin, who fired an air pellet rifle at the dog to scare him off his property.

"Suddenly, Shadow let out a horrific yelp," Sarah Scheele wrote of the moment on her Web site. "I screamed, 'Shadow! What's the matter sweetie?'… My mind then registered the 'pop' noise that I had heard and I yelled to my husband, 'Denis, I think Shadow has been shot!'"

Instead of hitting the dog in the rear, Blythe said, Dustin's bullet was a "one in a million shot" that had entered the chest of dog and severed its aorta.

Dustin, who did not attend today's hearing, declined to comment on the case when reached by ABCNews.com other than to say that he did not intend to kill the dog.