What’s it worth?
Moves to raise the legal status of pets may lead to damage awards. But there are other issues.
If you think of Rover and Fluffy as members of the family, you may figure you could collect damages for pain and suffering if they were to die as a result of wrongdoing.
The law in California and many other states sees things differently. It treats pets as personal property, just like cars and computers.
But that could be changing.
Interesting article on the legal ramifications of changes in the way damages for pet death are viewed, as well as the trend toward viewing pets as more than property. You all know that I’m seriously into pets. But I have a problem with calling myself a “guardian,” because it implies that I have less than complete owner’s rights. I don’t want anyone else telling me how to care for a pet, cruelty notwithstanding. This article touches on that topic too.
[LA Times]
Metaphor 
This is a toughie for me. I've had pets–dogs, mostly–that I adored and treated like family. I've also had pets–cats, mostly, but also a hermit crab (no joke: it was a gift)–that I was, to eumphemize, indifferent to. I felt like more than a guardian to the former, more like an unwilling landlord to the latter. I'm not sure I want legislation to impact my relationship with these animals. On the other hand….