A 13-year-old New Jersey boy is calling for stronger protections for pet owners after he watched a pit bull fatally attack his family’s Chihuahua — only to be told by animal control that the killing was not considered a crime.
Zander Zaki-Elba has written a proposed measure he named the “Moksha Law – Companion First Rights Act,” in honor of his 5-pound dog, Moksha. The Chihuahua was mauled to death last March by a pit bull that weighed nearly 200 pounds outside the family’s apartment complex in Washington Township.
Under the proposed law, pet owners in New Jersey would be able to seek damages for the emotional trauma tied to the wrongful death of a companion animal — a form of recovery that is not allowed under current state law.
Zaki-Elba said the idea came after Gloucester County Animal Control, which his family says did not arrive until the following morning, told him and his mother that no legal action could be taken. According to the family, officials described Moksha as property, not as a family member.
“Nobody wanted to help anybody. They told me ‘It’s not a crime. Your dog is a piece of property, like a dresser. And that’s all he is,’” the boy’s mother, Alicia Stinglen, told NJ Advance Media.
“I’m like, ‘He was our family.’”
The teenager said he was terrified as he saw his “best friend” being attacked, worrying that he could be next before racing home to get his mother.
By the time they returned, Moksha could not be saved. A neighbor, reportedly covered in blood, tried to revive the tiny dog with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but the effort was unsuccessful.
“His mouth was wide open. His tongue was sticking out from inside his mouth. And I just can’t get that out of my head at all,” Zaki-Elba told the outlet.
The owner of the pit bull was charged with not having a license for the animal and with owning a dog that was dangerous, and was ordered by the Washington Township Municipal Court to pay a fine to the grieving family.
So for their devasting loss, the mother and son, who have since moved to a new town and are in therapy for anxiety and PTSD, are only getting $3,000 from the pit bull’s owner.
Now, the eighth-grader is seeking justice — and compensation — for traumatized pet owners like him in the future.
“I think you should be able to get justice for an animal that you loved so much, where it was close to, like, family, basically your own child. He was like my own best friend,” he told the outlet.
Currently, the New Jersey Supreme Court says that pet owners cannot sue for the distress, but only recover compensation for the animal’s value.
Similar bills have been proposed to the New Jersey State Senate in recent years, but never have gotten passed.
Zaki-Elba also contacted New Jersey Sen. Paul Moriarty, who told the outlet: “I was very touched by his letter. I can understand his dismay that the law treats pets as if they are property. I do not believe that pets are the same as furniture.”
The Gloucester County Animal Control did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Stinglen, who sees the pit bull’s owner at municipal court hearings, said she was never told whether the pit bull was ever put down.
The devoted mother cannot believe the lack of empathy her family has endured.
“Why doesn’t anybody care in this world about this innocent little dog and my son?” she said.
“They stole his childhood, but because he didn’t get physically bit, nobody cares.”
