## Facts

- Kay Corso brought her 15-year-old poodle to Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital for treatment.
- The hospital recommended euthanasia, and the dog was put to death.
- The parties agreed the dog’s body would be turned over to an organization to arrange the dog’s funeral.
- Corso planned a formal funeral with family attendance and related memorial arrangements.
- At the funeral, the delivered casket contained a dead cat rather than Corso’s dog.
- Corso testified that the incident caused significant and continuing mental distress; she had no physical injury and no special damages apart from the loss of the remains and funeral-related loss.

## Issues

1. Whether wrongful disposal or destruction of a dog’s body, and failure to deliver the remains as agreed, constitutes an actionable tort.
2. If actionable, whether damages may exceed the dog’s market value and include compensation for the owner’s mental anguish.

## Decision

- The court found for Corso after a nonjury trial.
- The court held that wrongful destruction or withholding of the dog’s body was an actionable tort.
- The court held that Corso could recover damages beyond the dog’s market value, including damages for mental anguish caused by the mishandling and loss of the remains.

## Legal Principles

- Interference with an owner’s right to possession of a pet’s remains, including wrongful withholding or destruction, can support tort liability.
- A pet is not treated as ordinary personal property for purposes of measuring damages arising from mishandling of its remains; the relationship between an owner and a pet warrants treatment distinct from inanimate chattels.
- By analogy to claims for mishandling or withholding of human remains, mental anguish damages may be recoverable where the defendant’s conduct causes emotional harm, even without accompanying physical injury or special pecuniary loss.
- Limiting recovery to market value may be inadequate where the tort concerns mishandling of a pet’s body and the resulting emotional injury.

## Conclusion

The court recognized tort liability for a veterinary hospital’s wrongful destruction or misdelivery of a dog’s remains and permitted recovery of mental anguish damages exceeding the animal’s market value, reasoning that pets occupy a special status that justifies a damages measure comparable to cases involving mishandling of human remains.


Corso v. Crawford Dog & Cat Hosp., Inc., 97 Misc. 2d 530, 415 N.Y.S.2d 182 (N.Y. Civ. Ct. 1979)