The ruling is the first time a federal court has considered the question of whether an unlicensed pet-in violation of city or state code-is protected property under the Fourth Amendment. Federal courts have established that pets are protected from unreasonable seizures (read: killing) by police, but the city of Detroit argued in a motion in March that Smith's dogs, because they were unlicensed, were "contraband" for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment, meaning she had no legitimate property interest in them and therefore no basis to sue the officers or department.Sadly, Judge Steeh agreed with the city's ridiculous assertion that since the dogs were not licensed, they were not a legitimate property interest, thus giving Smith no legal basis to sue either the department or the individual officer/s that killed her dogs.
In their complaint, Nikita Smith and Kevin Thomas, who share a house on Sussex Street, say "a large number" of cops arrived there about 12:30 p.m. on January 14, demanding entry. Smith, who was home alone at the time, called out, "Let me put my dogs down in the basement." She put her two pit bulls, a male named Debo and a pregnant female named Mama, in the basement and blocked the door leading from it. She put the third dog, a female Rottweiler named Smoke, in a bathroom and closed the door.
After police "entered the residence without permission," Debo managed to get past the barrier across the doorway to the basement and sat down next to Smith. As she reached out to him, police opened fire and shot him several times, even though Smith was nearby. "You could have been killed," one officer later said, according to the lawsuit. After killing Debo, the cops then went down into the basement and shot Mama, who "was not barking or attacking the police at any time."
Next an officer opened the bathroom door, saw Smoke, and closed the door. "Should we do that one, too?" a cop asked. "Yes," another answered. Two cops "then fired multiple shots through the closed bathroom door, which killed Smoke." One of them reportedly exclaimed, "Did you see that? I got that one good!" The evidence introduced by Smith and Thomas includes pictures of the bloody aftermath and bullet holes in the bathroom door.
Swedish police say a man has been seriously injured by a bear in one of Europe's largest predator parks in northern Sweden.
Police say the man was cleaning an enclosure at the Orsa Rovdjurspark when he was attacked by a brown bear that had dug its way under the fence. The employee, who was not identified, was rushed to the hospital by helicopter.
Police said Friday the man had been seriously injured but didn't give details.
Park manager Anders Blomquist told Aftonbladet tabloid that a group of visitors who were inside the enclosure and witnessed the attack were shocked but unharmed.
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