ANDERSON, SC (WSPA)–An Anderson household has filed a lawsuit in opposition to a person, they mentioned was drunk when he hit and killed their household canine in entrance of them.
7 Information’ Asia Wilson spoke completely to the canine proprietor, who defined what she claims occurred.
Christina Grant, a mom of three, mentioned she and her sons watched all of it play out, whereas they have been standing of their driveway. Grant now hopes the civil go well with will spark change to state legal guidelines.
“This has been unspeakably tragic to all of us, however particularly to my youngest son. It’s been virtually 4 months, and he nonetheless has nightmares and wakes up in the course of the evening,” Grant mentioned.
December 27, 2020–was the day Grant mentioned her household and their canine have been inside their dwelling watching TV, when one thing caught their consideration outdoors.
“We heard this terrible loud bang, so we appeared out our facet window, and noticed what appeared like a hearth within the hospice car parking zone,” Grant mentioned.
She and her sons ran outdoors. The household canine adopted them outdoors, as nicely.
“So we have been in our driveway watching this automobile come down the street and inside only a blink of an eye fixed, this automobile swerved over into our driveway, and hit our smallest canine, and he or she bought trapped underneath the wheel of the automotive and he saved driving down the street, blew threw a four-way intersection, and the canine was screaming and hollering. It was horrible,” Grant mentioned.
“Most likely a couple of quarter of a mile down the street, we heard her have a closing screech and a loud sound which she dislodged from beneath the automobile. For sure it was fairly horrible and traumatic,” Grant added.
The canine proprietor mentioned her six-year-old son was solely a couple of foot away from their canine, Susie, when she was hit.
“It was dangerous sufficient, however it may’ve been manner worst,” Grant mentioned.
The lawsuit claims the driving force was intoxicated.
“The driving force was charged criminally with DUI and the problem on the civil facet, which is the place we signify this household is that, as of immediately, as of proper now, South Carolina solely values a canine, the identical manner they’d any piece of property,” mentioned Kenneth Berger, Legal professional on the Regulation Workplace of Kenneth Berger.
“It wasn’t simply oh our poor canine bought run over which is dangerous sufficient, however he witnessed it, he noticed it and he heard it for a number of a number of seconds after the incident. It was one of many worst issues I’ve seen,” Grant mentioned.
Grant and her legal professional need issues to alter.
“Effectively the regulation at present values the lifetime of a pet identical to they’d a VCR. Or a online game, it is just bought worth. This canine, candy Susie was a member of our household. She was my little boys greatest buddy. And so what we’re hoping is to enact a much bigger change. An actual change for the change of the regulation,” Grant mentioned.
“A authorized fiction exist and so there must be a authorized treatment. And so we’re bringing this case in hopes that both by means of the courts or by means of the legislature, some change comes about to additional acknowledge the worth that households place on pets,” Berger mentioned.
Berger mentioned they’re additionally in search of bystander legal responsibility or bystander damages, as a result of trauma of witnessing the loss of life.
“On this case, not solely was their canine killed by a drunk driver, however the canine was killed by a drunk driver in entrance of the proprietor and her kids,” Berger mentioned.
Now this grieving household hopes all animals in circumstances like this, are valued for his or her lives like people, relatively than a worth on a receipt.
“How do you set worth on a life. I don’t know the way you worth that. For us she was invaluable,” Grant mentioned. “I feel now we have to have a look at the larger image. Life is efficacious. All life is efficacious,” she added.
Berger mentioned they haven’t obtained a response from the driving force, however he anticipates one throughout the subsequent a number of weeks.
The driving force is charged with driving underneath the affect (DUI), and has requested a jury trial for the felony cost.
