Dog owners know that the bond they share with their pets is far more complex than possession, but in the eyes of the law, dogs have historically been treated like personal property.
Trevor DeBlase, whose beloved dachshund, Duke, was struck and killed by a car in Brooklyn, wanted him to be legally recognized as more than just property, both for legal recourse and his own mourning.
So, he decided to challenge the legal status of pets in wrongful death and emotional distress cases. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Aaron Maslow agreed, ruling that dogs are now considered “immediate family” in New York.
“This Court fails to see why a beloved companion pet could not be considered ‘immediate family,’” the judge wrote.
His ruling now allows DeBlase to seek compensation typically reserved for those who witness a close relative’s injury or death. For now, the legal decision is limited to cases where a dog is killed while being walked on a leash, but animal rights groups are still celebrating the progress.
“The legal status of animals is currently undergoing a really important transformation, and this is part of a larger shift in how the law sees and treats animals,” Christopher Berry of the Nonhuman Rights Project told Gothamist.
“It’s an incremental but important step in recognizing that pets aren’t just property — they’re individuals who matter.”
DeBlase, too, is celebrating the bittersweet victory of Duke’s impact from beyond Rainbow Bridge.
“This is a monumental win for families of N.Y.C. and long overdue,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “The emotional heartache my family has collectively felt … cannot be quantified with a dollar amount, but knowing that something good has come out of this tragedy brings me some kind of solace.”
While this case was the first in the country to rule that canine companions can be considered immediate family, this distinction is growing in popularity.
In 2025, Spain enacted a landmark law that recognizes pets as “sentient beings” rather than property. And in Alaska, California, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, and New York, various laws have been enacted requiring courts to consider the “best interests” of pets in divorce or separation cases.
Other states, like Colorado and Pennsylvania, have also considered similar legislation.
Regardless of what lawmakers and judges say, the belief that pets are a part of the family is already socially acceptable. A 2023 Pew Research Center poll found that 97% of Americans consider their pets part of the family — and a majority said their pets were on the same level as other humans in their family.
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A version of this article was originally published in The 2025 Dogs Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image by Helena Lopes via Pexels
