MIAMI — Franky the drug dog’s supersensitive nose is at the heart of a question being put to the U.S. Supreme Court: Does a police dog’s sniff outside a house give officers the right to get a search warrant for illegal drugs, or is the sniff an unconstitutional search? Florida’s highest state court has said [...]
A 25-year-old man who pleaded guilty to beating and killing his girlfriend’s dogs last year was sentenced to five years and four months in state prison, District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis announced Friday. Patrick Caleb Land pleaded guilty to three counts of animal cruelty in September after being arrested and extricated to San Diego from North [...]
Two witnesses testified Monday that they observed a Pennsylvania man slip something to a Siberian Husky who was later found to have eaten at least one drug meant for humans during a suburban Chicago dog show. Ralph Ullum, 68, faces misdemeanor charges including animal cruelty and attempted criminal damage to property for allegedly feeding drugs [...]
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, has filed a lawsuit against Jeannine Julian of Richmond, Missouri for violations of the Animal Care Facilities Act and the Canine Cruelty Prevention Act. Upon inspection of JJ Kennel, a commercial breeder facility owned by Julian, numerous violations of the law were [...]
Kimberly Nizato, a Bellflower, California resident accused of nearly starving her dog to death, was sentenced Monday to a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. Defense attorney Andrew Stein successfully argued to Judge Robert J. Higa that the District Attorney Office’s case did not meet the standard for a felony conviction. Higa sentenced the 27-year-old to [...]
All too often, pets are used as pawns in abusive relationships. Now Texas lawmakers have enacted a new state law that will include pets in protective orders. Belinda Smith, who heads the animal cruelty section for the Harris County Texas District Attorney’s Office, says there is a well-documented link between animal abuse and domestic abuse. [...]
The head of Kendall County Illinois’ animal control department has been placed on administrative leave after she admitted placing a dog that bit a 6-year-old boy with another family, instead of euthanizing it. Christine Johnson, the warden of Kendall County, Illinois animal control, said she euthanized another dog by mistake. She has been placed on [...]
Chelsea Grimes only saw a cellphone photo of her new roommate’s first puppy. Andrew David Thompson sent it to her the Friday before Labor Day in 2010, soon after he moved in. When Grimes returned to their East Lansing, Michigan condominium on Labor Day, Thompson told her the Italian Greyhound he’d named Kensington had died. [...]
