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Brooklyn Woman Awarded Damages for Emotional Distress After Witnessing Dog’s Death
In a landmark decision, a New York judge ruled on Tuesday that a woman is entitled to damages for the emotional distress she suffered after her son’s dog was fatally struck by a car. The ruling, handed down by New York Supreme Court Judge Aaron Maslow, declared that the four-year-old dachshund, Duke, was more than just property and could be considered “immediate family” in this specific case.
The incident occurred on July 4, 2023, when Nan DeBlase was walking Duke in the Mill Basin neighborhood. Surveillance footage shows DeBlase waiting for a car to pass before attempting to cross the street. A driver, Mitchell Hill, then ran a stop sign, striking the leashed dog and nearly hitting DeBlase as she jumped out of the way.
“It was very traumatic, extremely,” DeBlase told the New York Post, describing the incident as “hysterical.”
A month later, the family filed a lawsuit against Hill, challenging a law that limited damages to the dog’s market value, approximately $2,000. Judge Maslow’s decision grants DeBlase’s claim for emotional distress due to her presence at the scene and the fact that the dog was leashed. However, the judge denied a similar claim from DeBlase’s son, Trevor, the dog’s owner, as he was not present during the incident.
The judge’s decision hinges on the legal concept of “zone of danger,” which typically restricts emotional distress claims to relatives who were in harm’s way when a loved one was killed. Judge Maslow specifically addressed concerns from veterinary and kennel club groups regarding potential increased liabilities for the pet industry, calling their “parade of horrors” argument “overstated.” He clarified that the ruling applies only to leashed dogs, noting that few other pets are typically walked on leashes.
DeBlase praised the decision as “long overdue” in New York, pointing out that other states, like Tennessee, already allow pet owners to sue for greater non-economic damages. She expressed her hope that other states would adopt similar legislation.
In a 2023 Instagram post shortly after the incident, DeBlase expressed her grief, writing, “I loved this dog more than life itself and things will never be the same without him.”