A chair is just a chair, but my dog is not.

My pets have always been like family members to me. Currently in California, pets are merely personal property. Therefore, if somebody were to murder my dog, I would only be able to recover the value of my dog in a civil law suit against the murderer, and nothing for my emotional distress or loss of companionship. My dog is priceless to me, but being a rescued mixed breed, with health problems his objective, economic value is probably zero. I believe that the legislature should add statutory civil damages against those who purposely or recklessly kill pets. I'm not asking that pets be treated like humans, just better than some inanimate object (like a chair or tv).