Japan court awards owner damages and costs after Chihuahua dies of shock
Judge in Sakai rules in favour of elderly Chihuahua after it was charged by a German Shepherd during a walk with its owners
A Japanese court has ruled the grieving owners of a Chihuahua dog be paid damages including funeral costs after their family pet died of a heart attack when charged by a German Shepherd, reports said on Saturday.
The diminutive 15-year-old canine was on a walk in the Japanese city of Sakai in February last year when the Alsatian, as German Shepherd dogs are also known, rushed at the smaller animal, the newspaper said.
Following a collision, the elderly animal became agitated before suffering heart failure, Osaka district court said in its ruling, adding that the owners of the larger dog had failed to keep it on a leash.
An adult Alsatian can weigh up to 20 times as much as a typical fully-grown Chihuahua, according to animal experts.
“For a small dog, a charge by a large dog is a threat. It experienced a serious shock before the death,” said presiding judge Masafumi Kawabata, according to the newspaper.
The court ruled that the owner of the German Shepherd failed to adequately control the pet, and ordered a payment of over 14.000 yen (HK$122,000) in damages as well the costs of the Chihuahua’s funeral, media said.
Pet funerals are common in Japan, a nation of dog lovers, where animals are often cremated and the ashes kept in the living room along with a picture of the deceased.
Japanese tend to favour smaller dogs that better suit densely packed cities and homes with limited space.
