Federal Court Rules Police Can Shoot a Barking or Moving Dog While Entering a Home
December 28, 2016PEOPLE - A federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, ruled that police can shoot a dog while entering a home if the animal “moves or barks” in the officer’s presence.
The decision is the final step in a case brought to court by Mark and Cheryl Brown of Battle Creek, whose pit bull was killed while officers were executing a search warrant on their home in 2013.
The couple claimed that officers “unlawfully seized their property in violation of the Fourth Amendment when officers shot and killed two dogs while executing a search warrant.”
An officer testified that he shot the first dog when it appeared to move “a few inches” and lunged at him. The dog fled to the basement, where the officer shot and killed it. Court documents reveal that another officer killed the second dog after it too ran to the basement and barked at the officers.
Judge Eric Clay’s decision ruled that the Browns failed to provide evidence that the first dog did not lunge at police and that the second dog did not bark.
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