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If you're a truly sensitive pet lover, you should probably stop reading now. (I love my pets, really. But I have a sick sense of humor, okay?) Posted with permission of my friend (thanks, Friend!) to whom this actually happened. (I suggested she get her own LJ, but she declined for now.)
Everyone remember the contaminated pet food that sickened and killed many beloved pets? Well, a friend of mine had that cat food, and it was absolutely horrible. Both cats sickened. One died. The other recovered, after a lot of medical care. A whole lot of medical care. About $6000 worth of medical care, actually.
So the cat food company offered to make good. They paid the $6000, which is decent of them (in the "bare minimum" sense of decency). And they offered to pay the replacement cost of the dead cat. But then they had to figure the replacement cost.
So they told my friend that, since the cat had already lived some years, and cats are considered property under the law, they would have to figure the depreciation on the cat.
My friend was offended (and rightly so) and did not pursue the details of how one depreciates a cat. I don't fault her at all on that. There's just this niggling little urge I have that won't quite go away yet to know how one figures depreciation on a cat. (If anyone knows, please leave a comment telling me so!)
One of her friends said the cat had had eight perfectly good lives left, and she should be reimbursed for all of them.
My position is that property values around here have been rising over the last few years (I mean, when people are putting their satellite dishes on port-a-potties!). Clearly, the cat should have appreciated, not depreciated.
Everyone remember the contaminated pet food that sickened and killed many beloved pets? Well, a friend of mine had that cat food, and it was absolutely horrible. Both cats sickened. One died. The other recovered, after a lot of medical care. A whole lot of medical care. About $6000 worth of medical care, actually.
So the cat food company offered to make good. They paid the $6000, which is decent of them (in the "bare minimum" sense of decency). And they offered to pay the replacement cost of the dead cat. But then they had to figure the replacement cost.
So they told my friend that, since the cat had already lived some years, and cats are considered property under the law, they would have to figure the depreciation on the cat.
My friend was offended (and rightly so) and did not pursue the details of how one depreciates a cat. I don't fault her at all on that. There's just this niggling little urge I have that won't quite go away yet to know how one figures depreciation on a cat. (If anyone knows, please leave a comment telling me so!)
One of her friends said the cat had had eight perfectly good lives left, and she should be reimbursed for all of them.
My position is that property values around here have been rising over the last few years (I mean, when people are putting their satellite dishes on port-a-potties!). Clearly, the cat should have appreciated, not depreciated.
