Your Dog is One Step Closer to Being a Legal Member of The Family, Thanks to a Brooklyn Judge

A tragic end for a Mill Basin dachshund named Duke may have cleared the way for the legal status of pet dogs

All praise, Duke, the darling and beloved late dachshund who is currently at the center of a potentially transformative ruling that may just define dogs as legal family members.

According to Gothamist, Duke was tragically struck and killed by a car in Mill Basin while being walked by his owner last year. The owners, Nan DeBlase and her son Travis, reportedly filed suit against the car’s driver, Mitchell Hill, demanding damages for the negligent driving that caused the dog’s death, but also for endangering the life of DeBlase, and causing the family mental distress. Historically, dogs have been legally classified as property, Hill’s attorneys argued, and owners are typically only permitted to sue for the value of the animal and any associated veterinary bills.

But Brooklyn judge Aaron Maslow has ruled that Nan is eligible for a type of compensation typically reserved for those who have witnessed a family member getting hurt or killed, clearing the lawsuit to move to trial. Maslow’s decision could fundamentally change the discourse surrounding the legal status of dogs as family members in the city. He claimed the laws around pets no longer reflect the relationships people have with their animals, and that a legal framework for their inclusion in the legal definition of a household member was already being (loosely) developed over the last three decades. Maslow cited a state law from 2021 that mandated courts consider the “best interests” of a pet, like they would a child, in the separation of a couple. He also cited a state law from 1996, which allowed owners to set up trusts to pay for pet care.

Should DeBlase’s suit prove successful in receiving the expanded payout, previously reserved for human members of households, Duke just might go down as the city’s first dog with legal status.