Seth Victor
A provocative case came out of the Oregon Supreme Court two weeks ago addressing a warrantless seizure of a horse that was used to convict the defendants of animal abuse. As Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) reports, in the consolidated cases of State v. Fessenden and State v. Dicke, the court held that an officer was acting in accordance with the exceptions to the warrant requirements when he observed a starving horse on defendants’ property and took the horse to a veterinarian for emergency medical attention. The defendants were later charged with animal abuse, but they contended that the seizure of the horse was in violation of their right to privacy, and as it was a warrantless seizure, the evidence (the horse) had to be suppressed.
Filed under: animal advocacy, animal cruelty, animal law, animal rights, animal welfare | Tagged: animal cruelty, animal law, Animal Legal Defense Fund, animal protection, animal rights, animal suffering, animal welfare law, emergency aid, exigent circumstances, Fourth Amendment, horse, horse abuse, Justice Walters, Oregon Attorney General, Oregon Supreme Court, plain view exception, State v. Dicke, State v. Fessenden | 7 Comments »
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