[ SHOWGSD-L ] FW: [MississippiPetLaw] Lawsuit Filed Against City of Tupelo/Tupelo Lee County Humane Society
- From: "Jim & Cyndi Flautt" <caretti@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 21:42:27 -0500
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Posted on Wed, Mar. 23, 2005
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Tupelo humane society sued over deaths of pit bull puppies
Associated Press
OXFORD, Miss. - The owner of eight pit bull puppies seized by authorities in
Tupelo has sued a local humane society and the city, claiming the action
violated his constitutional rights.
In the lawsuit filed recently in federal court in Oxford, Paden McCullough
seeks damages totaling $12,000, or $1,500 for each of the eight puppies. He
also seeks punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury.
McCullough, a student at the University of Mississippi, brought the
4-week-old pit bull puppies, their mother and two other pit bulls home to
Tupelo last winter for the holidays.
He claims in the lawsuit that he was unaware that, according to a city
ordinance, pit bulls are considered dangerous animals and he was supposed to
let officials know he had them.
After he arrived, two of the adult dogs went into a neighbor's yard. The
neighbor, not knowing that McCullough was home, called the Tupelo-Lee Humane
Society to pick up the animals.
The officer took the two dogs that had strayed, then asked McCullough for
the other dogs he had in a garage.
The complaint says the animal control officer took the puppies after being
told that they hadn't had their shots. The puppies contracted a virus and
died shortly after McCullough paid $100 in fines, the lawsuit alleges.
McCullough's attorney, Jim Waide, says that the seizure of the mother dog
and the puppies was wrong because they hadn't escaped into the neighbor's
yard. He said the fact that McCullough was fined for having the dogs in the
first place was unconstitutional because a penalty can't be levied without a
hearing.
Waide also claims the ordinance is unconstitutional because without
evidence, it deems all pit bulls dangerous, "even when the animal is a small
puppy which could not endanger anyone."
The city has denied any culpability, saying that McCullough's complaint is
with the humane society. According to a response to the lawsuit filed by
Tupelo officials, a contract with the humane society calls for the
non-profit to indemnify the city from all legal claims unless they involve
the city's automobile insurance.
The humane society has yet to file an answer. Tupelo attorney Wayne
Williams, who represents animal shelter director Shelia Horton and the
humane society, said he could not discuss the lawsuit or say when the humane
society would file an answer.
_____
Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal,
<http://www.djournal.com/> http://www.djournal.com
_____
) 2005 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.sunherald.com
_____
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