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Killing a dog is a "seizure"

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Killing of plaintiff's dog was a "seizure" for Fourth Amendment purposes, but it was reasonable under the circumstances. After having fatally shot the dog, the officers put it out of its misery. Viilo v. City of Milwaukee, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10900 (E.D. Wis. February 12, 2008): In Siebert v. Severino, the Seventh Circuit held that "[t]he removal of an animal constitutes a 'seizure' for purposes of the Fourth Amendment, and thus such a seizure must meet that Amendment's constitutional requirements." 256 F.3d 648, 656 (7th Cir. 2001). Although the court was considering the seizure of horses rather than dogs, its use of the general word "animal," citation to the Lesher case, and failure to note any constraint based on Pfeil suggest that the Seventh Circuit would rule no differently in a case involving a dog...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 17, 2008 (boomark / email).