![]() Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit torpedoed all relief for Mark and Cheryl Brown, whose dogs were shot by Battle Creek, Michigan police, ruling the cops acted “reasonably” and were immune under law. Those who consider their dog a family member have expressed outrage on social media, especially after the U.S. Still, cops are normally exempt from claims under those remedies. Some states, however, do offer limited damages for emotional distress for the loss of a dog, but not many. Absent a constitutional claim, a person could sue for damages because of the loss of property (the dog), but any damage award is usually limited to the “market value” of the dog, typically the purchase price. In order for someone to show a constitutional violation when a cop kills his dog, a person must show that the cop’s actions were “unreasonable” given the situation. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, so a cop killing someone’s dog is recognized as a “seizure” of the person’s property. Dogs are considered “property” under the U.S. The law provides “immunity” for cops unless their actions were “plainly incompetent” or they violated the law, according to the courts. The pet owner’s recourse to hold cops accountable for killing a family pet, though, is not easy. Meanwhile Metro Atlanta cops kill on average 50 dogs per year, and a Buffalo, New York, news channel investigation found that police there killed 92 dogs over three years, with one officer having killed 26 himself. According to police records, two detectives had killed at least 100 dogs between them over the course of their careers. In Detroit, cops killed at least 25 dogs in 2015 and 21 before the first half of 2016. The totals could, in fact, be higher, since most police agencies do not formally track officer-involved shootings involving animals. Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on G+ Share with emailĬops in this country kill so many dogs each year that a specialist at the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) community-oriented program services office says it has become an “epidemic.” The DOJ estimates that around 25 to 30 dogs are killed by cops every day, with some numbers as high as 10,000 per year. ![]()
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