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Anzalone v. Kragness3/7/2005
This matter arose over the death of a cat belonging to plaintiff Mary Ann Anzalone. The cat, Blackie, was boarded at the Kragness Animal Hospital, Ltd. (Kragness Animal Hospital), when she was attacked by another boarder, a rottweiler dog, and killed. Plaintiff brought this action against defendants Craig Kragness, D.V.M. and the Kragness Animal Hospital for breach of bailment, negligence, breach of a fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress, seeking $100,000 in damages plus costs and attorney fees. The circuit court dismissed the count of intentional infliction of emotional distress with prejudice and struck the prayer for relief on the remaining counts. The circuit court granted plaintiff leave to amend her first amended complaint to include a new prayer for relief, directing that the prayer for relief "specify laintiff's claim for actual damages and * not contain a prayer for attorney fees." Rather than filing a second amended complaint, plaintiff brought this appeal. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand.
BACKGROUND
The first amended complaint (hereinafter, complaint) was in four counts. Count I sounded in bailment, count II in negligence, count III in breach of a fiduciary duty, and count IV in intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The factual allegations common to all four counts are summarized as follows. Plaintiff was a 44-year-old unmarried woman with no children. She considered Blackie, her four-year-old female cat, a member of her family. Plaintiff "loved and cared for Blackie, Blackie reciprocated that affection, and [plaintiff] cherished Blackie for the unconditional love and companionship she provided." On June 7, 2002, plaintiff brought several cats, including Blackie, for boarding to her veterinary hospital, the Kragness Animal Hospital. On June 19, 2002, a hospital employee let Blackie out of her cage and took her to a room for exercise. The employee failed to securely close the room door. At about the same time, the employee took a rottweiler dog to a nearby room. The rottweiler ran into Blackie's room, attacked and killed her.
Plaintiff claimed that " s a result of Blackie's death, has suffered extreme distress evidenced by the facts that: she cried constantly following Blackie's violent death and continues to cry every time she thinks about it to this date; has lost sleep and continues to do so to this date; has recurring waking thoughts and nightmares in which she envisions Blackie, a 4-paw de-clawed cat, ripped apart by a rottweiler; has overwhelming feelings of guilt over the fact of Blackie's death as well as the terror and pain that Blackie suffered; has suffered headaches; has suffered extreme stress resulting in weight gain of approximately 40 pounds; as well as the loss of Blackie, the loss of Blackie's society and companionship, and financial losses."
Defendants moved to dismiss pursuant to section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (the Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2002)), arguing that under Illinois law, pets were classified as personal property, so that damages for emotional distress and loss of society associated with a pet's injury or death were not recoverable. Defendants argued that the factors to be considered in order to measure damages for the death of a pet generally included the market value, longevity of the breed, and the pet's training, usefulness and desirable traits. Defendants asserted that plaintiff's prayer for compensatory damages in excess of $100,000 was not based on the market value of Blackie or other permissible factors. Defendants further argued that even if non-economic damages were recoverable for the death of a pet, the allegations in pl
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