Pets are considered property under the law in nearly every respect, which creates challenges in determining their value in civil litigation. By and large, when a pet is killed—by police or civilians—the damages are limited to the animal’s economic value, though some states also allow for emotional damages, either by statute or common law.
Across the country, there have been some substantial, high-profile awards in cases in which judges found constitutional violations against owners.
It began in California in 2005, when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco held that San Jose police officers committed an unconstitutional seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment by killing three dogs during raids on a Hells Angels clubhouse and several members’ homes.
No one knows exactly how many pets are killed by law enforcement officers every year because there is no uniform reporting or collection of data on animal killings. The most widely cited estimate from the U.S. Department of Justice is that every day, police officers kill 25 to 30 dogs—or some 10,000 per year.
According to the American Pet Products Association, nearly 90 million dogs are now living in homes in the United States, and the number is rising every year. That raises the likelihood of police encountering dogs on the job.
Note: It could be an unconstitutional seizure/or taking even if your animals are seized improperly and never given back, or if you are accused of some charge of abuse when there was no abuse, or when the CA Penal Code for seizure is allegedly applied to your case, and the animal control, police, or other agency simply sweeps up everything you own, and you never, ever, get those animals back? This is far, far more common that people realize, and we have animal rights people to thank for that. Many animal rights proponents are simply brazen zealots that want no pets and no animals owned, bought, or sold.
For example, PETA believes no animals whatsoever should be owned, bought, or sold. In fact PETA will steal animals so they can kill them. Hard to believe, but PETA would rather kill animals than allow humans to own, buy or sell them. If you doubt this, you need to do some more research on PETA and their antics. Ingrid Newkirk (who is in charge of PETA, killed many, many animals when she worked in D.C. animal shelter; she worked overtime so she could kill more of them. Obviously all that killing led to her belief that the 'best gift one can give a homeless animal--is the gift of euthanasia.'It's obvious. NEVER donate to PETA. They are insane.
