May a pet owner recover for emotional distress when another intentionally injures his pet?  It depends.  While in other states pet owners may recover for emotional distress, up until last month California courts only allowed juries to award economic damages to a pet owner and refused to award an owner for his emotional distress including

Many of the San Bruno residents evacuated on September 9th may be categorized as “survivors,” having escaped the Glenview fire without being burned.  But even though they suffer no physical injuries, the gas explosion will leave dozens with emotional injuries that will persist for a long time to come.

Generally the law does not require a