SJC: Police can enter homes to save animals

LYNN ? The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that police may enter a home without a warrant to provide emergency assistance to animals.
The ruling on Friday was in response to a January 2011 incident in which Lynn police entered the home of Heather Duncan without a warrant and seized three dogs that had been left outside during the winter, according to a press release from Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office.
The release states that two of the dogs were dead and a third was “severely malnourished.” The resident was subsequently charged with three counts of animal cruelty. However, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence since police had no warrant to enter the home. The judge in the case reported the question to the SJC.
The release states that Essex Assistant District Attorney Paul C. Wagoner argued that the defendant’s “conduct ? occurred in the defendant’s front yard in full view of the neighborhood ? Therefore it was permissible for the officers to act to save the life of the last living dog.”
Blodget is quoted in the release, saying, “Dating back to colonial times, animal cruelty and neglect have been prohibited. This ruling makes clear that police may respond to an emergency in which an animal requires immediate protection or is in imminent danger of physical harm while still respecting the boundaries of the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizures.”The case will return to Lynn District Court for trial, according to the release.