Manhattan Woman Hopes to Prove Her Dog Has a Soul, or Whatever By Dan Amira 1/4/12 at 2:27 PM

Pretty much everyone — even cat people! — recognizes that dogs are capable of suffering, of feeling pain and sadness and misery. And yet the law often treats them like mere objects. After allegedly buying a puppy with various debilitating health problems, one Manhattan woman is suing to change that:

In her civil suit, dog owner Elena Zakharova contends that pets — considered “property” under state law — are much more than that: living creatures that feel love and pain. Zakharova says the upper East Side pet store that sold her a pooch with bum knees and trick hips should be liable for the pup’s pain and suffering, as if it were a person …. “Pets must be recognized as living souls, not inanimate property,” said Zakharova’s lawyer, Susan Chana Lask.

Sure, Zakharova wants to be compensated for the dog’s pain as well as its hefty vet bills. But this isn’t about money. This is about humanity. This is about morality. This is about treating our fellow creatures with the respect they deserve!

If the judge won’t recognize Umka’s suffering, Lask said she will argue the dog should be subject to the Uniform Commercial Code that gives a buyer four years to return a “defective product.”

FREEEEEEEDDDOOOOOMM!