‘She couldn’t move anymore’: Dog owner distraught after UPS delivery of 55-pound package leads to canine’s tragic end

Law & Crime / by Matt Naham / Jul 22, 2024 at 1:31 PM

A Los Angeles, California, dog owner is reportedly considering litigation against UPS and one of its drivers after her dog was killed last week by a 55-pound package dropped over a gate outside her home, as neighbors looked on.

Surveillance footage aired by local CBS affiliate KCAL showed the moments last Wednesday evening that a UPS truck stopped in North Hills, its driver exiting the vehicle to deliver the package across the street to Naria Harutjunjan’s home, with tragic results for her and Lulu, a dog she reportedly rescued as recently as one year ago.

The package did appear to be heavy based on how slowly the UPS worker was walking across the street, as captured by a neighbor’s surveillance video.

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If Harutjunjan is seriously considering filing a lawsuit, which the latest reporting suggests, that might be because California Civil Code does allow “exemplary damages” when “animals being subjects of property” are wrongfully harmed in the course of “gross negligence,” which is defined as “the lack of any care or an extreme departure from what a reasonably careful person would do in the same situation to prevent harm to oneself or to others.”

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