BOSTON — In a decision that could impact a local animal-cruelty case, the state’s highest court ruled Friday that police officers can enter a person’s property without a warrant in order to provide emergency help to an animal.
At issue was whether the emergency-aid exception to the search warrant requirement in the U.S. and state constitutions, which normally applies only to people, can also apply to animals in need of immediate assistance.
An animal-cruelty case in Fitchburg was put on hold last year while the Supreme Judicial Court deliberated.
In that case, James Ferreri, 66, of Lunenburg, is charged with operating an unlicensed kennel and four counts of animal cruelty.
The charges stem from a July 26, 2012, incident in which Fitchburg police found four pit bulls caged in the basement of a building Ferreri owned on Water Street.
Ferreri’s lawyer, Richard Farrell, of Northboro, has asked a judge to dismiss all evidence police obtained from entering Ferreri’s building. He has argued that police should have obtained a search warrant before entering the building, adding that the condition of animals did not constitute an emergency to avoid getting a search warrant.
Court: Police Can Enter Homes To Save Animals (Or Kill Them) [continued]
Meanwhile, the police killing of family owned dogs that are loved and well taken care of is becoming an epidemic.
source: Libertycrier
