holding that police officer's shooting of pet dog can constitute a seizure under the Fourth Amendment
How later courts described this case
- holding that police officer's shooting of pet dog can constitute a seizure under the Fourth Amendment
- "[A]n officer commits an unreasonable, warrantless seizure of property, in violation of the Constitution, when he shoots and kills an individual's family pet when the pet presented no danger and when non-lethal methods of capture would have been successful."
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
MURPHY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the majority’s disposition of the claims for substantive due process and against the City of West Branch, but I would affirm the judgment of the district court because I think Police Chief Dan Knight is entitled to qualified immunity.