How Much Is a Dog's Life Worth in the US?

Rosie was a Newfoundland bitch; for three years, she lived happily with her owners, Charles and Deirdre Wright, in their home in Des Moines, a small town in Washington. On that fateful Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010, the Wrights left her in the garden and went out for the whole day. Toward the evening, the police were notified that a big dog was roaming the streets. It was the Wrights’ neighbor who called, not because he was afraid, but, on the contrary, because he feared for her safety. Though she was a big, black, shaggy dog and weighed as much as 50 kilos, the people knew her for her gentle and cheerful disposition.

The three policemen who responded to the call drove Rosie into a backyard that was fenced on three sides and shot her with an assault rifle. Witnesses testified that Rosie didn’t bark or growl. She wasn’t at all aggressive to the policemen who stood approximately 10 meters away from her and blocked her only route of escape.

The first bullet hit her in the leg and immobilized her. The policemen shouted, “Bravo!” and high-fived the colleague who held the rifle. He then shot Rosie three more times.

The incident sparked outrage in the town. Thousands of people signed an electronic petition demanding punishment for cruel officers. The Wrights filed a lawsuit. Last week, they reached an agreement — the police will pay $51,000 in compensation and cover the court costs (which amount to at least twice as much as the compensatory fee). The $51,000 reward is the largest settlement to have been reached in Washington state for an animal-related litigation case, boasted Adam Karp, the Wrights’ attorney.

For comparison, the U.S. Army typically pays several thousand dollars to the families of innocent men they kill in Afghanistan. Similar rates apply in Iraq.

A well-known exception is the high-profile case of Sergeant Robert Bales, who, on the morning of March 11, 2012, left the Camp Belamby base in the Afghan region of Kandahar and went on foot to a nearby village, where he killed 17 people, including nine children, and wounded seven.

In this case, the U.S. Army paid $50,000 to the families for each person killed, which is nearly the same as what the Des Moines police agreed to pay the Wrights for their Newfoundland.

Sergeant Bales is in custody in Kansas and awaiting trial. Military prosecutors have announced that they will seek the death penalty. Interestingly enough, Bales was armed with the same rifle that the policemen used to shoot Rosie (model M4).

Compensation rates increase substantially if person killed is an American citizen — up to 70 times more than for an American dog or an Afghan child.

Also in the last week, municipal authorities in Easton, Connecticut agreed to pay $3.5 million to the family of 33-year-old Gonzalo Guizana, who was killed by policemen under bizarre circumstances on May 18, 2008.

That day, Guizan invited a stripper to his home. The visit, however, ended in a row. The girl left, called the police in revenge and reported that Guizan and his friend were consuming illegal substances.

For unknown reasons — the informant mentioned nothing about weapons — the SWAT team was called. The officers, armed with M4 assault rifles, dressed in bulletproof vests and Kevlar helmets, arrived in an armored vehicle and stormed the apartment.

This incident was all the more surprising because the two tenants, aside from their weakness for exotic dancers and cocaine, which all of their neighbors were aware of, were generally well-behaved. They also did not have any weapons in their possession. If the policemen had just knocked and not forced the door open, they would have certainly been let in.

The armored officers broke through the door and windows simultaneously and threw flash grenades inside. One exploded and burnt one of the policemen. He assumed he had been shot at and started shouting, “I was hit!” The officers opened fire. When the noise died down, Guizan, pierced by six bullets, lay dead beside his computer, on which he had been calmly watching a porn movie. His friend miraculously came out of this accident unscathed. He denies the policemen’s claims that Guizan threw himself at the officers. A small amount of cocaine was founded in the apartment.

The statement issued by the city reads: “While the defendants, police departments and officers from Darien, Easton, Trumbull, Monroe and Wilton maintain they were not responsible for the unfortunate death of Mr. Guizan, the insurers for the defendants, who will bear the full cost of the settlement, believed that it was best to resolve the matter rather than incur further attorneys’ fees, which were anticipated to be significant.”