A dog named Malinka was traveling in a special box. Before boarding, the owner, Nina Sluzhaeva, handed her over to the airline staff; however, upon landing, it was discovered that the dog had gone missing, reports the portal mgorod.kz.
The woman estimated the loss of her beloved pet at one million tenge, while the moral damages amounted to five million. The Turkib District Court in Almaty partially granted her claim, awarding her 500,000 tenge for emotional distress.
"Unfortunately, our legislation classifies animals as property. Therefore, if you do not have a receipt for the purchase of the animal, it is impossible to prove its material value in court. The court only partially satisfied the claim for moral damages inflicted on the pet owner. However, the court did not consider that the defenseless animal, unprepared for life in the wild, was left to fend for itself, which violates the provisions of Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan 'On Responsible Animal Care.' It is noteworthy that the airline provided no assistance in the search for the dog, and the airport area is a strategic site, which is why the dog's owner was not allowed access," said lawyer Alfiya Satybayeva.
Sluzhaeva and her lawyer plan to appeal the court's decision.
Previously, an appellate complaint by Air Astana regarding the Turkib District Court's decision related to the payment of moral damages due to an incident involving a 12-year-old Kazakh girl traveling from the USA through Astana to Uralsk was considered in Almaty.