Dismissal upheld in civil lawsuit against Animal Control, CPD

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) –  A federal civil suit against the Montgomery County government, the City of Clarksville, by a woman who accused them of violating her federal constitutional rights during a 2016 animal cruelty case, was dismissed in federal court.

Cindy Leeann King sued Montgomery County Animal Control and the City of Clarksville’s Police Department and employees from each agency, in a civil lawsuit that arose from an animal cruelty investigation that led to the seizure of 15 dogs from her home and ultimately criminal charges being filed.

King filed her lawsuit in the United States District Court in Nashville and in April 2019, the district court granted the defendants’ summary judgment motions and dismissed the lawsuit.

King appealed the district court’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and on January 3, 2020, the Sixth Circuit issued its opinion affirming or upholding the district court’s dismissal of King’s lawsuit.

Animal Cruelty

Cindy L. King previously lived in a Clarksville home and faced criminal animal cruelty charges for allegedly leaving at least five dogs in her home in “squalid conditions”. She regularly had 15 dogs in her care, six were under her care as a foster owner for local animal rescue groups. The remaining nine belonged to her or her family.

With plans to travel to Kentucky, King arranged for friends to care for the dogs during her absence and some dogs were left in the home. While in Kentucky, King ran into legal troubles and was temporarily incarcerated, according to court documents.

She arranged for two friends to stop at her home and care for the five dogs that remained in her home. One of the friends was unable to tend to the dogs so the other friend went to King’s home.

When the friend arrived she found the home in “horrific disrepair” and the dogs were suffering in “squalid conditions.” The friend took photos to document what she saw, the court documents said.

“Dog feces and urine covered the floor, strong ammonia fumes made it hard to see and breathe, and a dog was caged without access to food or water. Believing that all
five dogs in the residence required immediate veterinary attention, she called 911.,” the appeal said.

Clarksville Officer John Matos responded to the call and could see the conditions described from the door of the home. He entered the house and “saw more of the same, including a dog trapped upstairs in a feces-covered room and a refrigerator infested with cockroaches.”

Matos took pictures of the conditions and contacted Montgomery County Animal Control.  MCAC officer Jessica Cook responded and was let into the home by Officer Matos to perform a welfare check and also took photos.

A decision was made that due to the “foul conditions” the five dogs’ health was threatened and they were taken by MCAC.

“Photographs of the conditions inside of King’s home became a topic of discussion in Clarksville. The photographs were disseminated online, with the parties disputing the original source. In addition, a local newspaper published an article featuring a photograph of the feces-covered room. Shortly after the article was published, King lost her job,” the documents said.

Later through various arrangements, all 15 of King’s dogs were taken by MCAC following an impoundment hearting. Some dogs were returned to rescue organizations.

King was indicted on ten counts of animal cruelty, but the case was later dismissed in the Montgomery Circuit Court.  According to the appeals court,  it was concluded at the state criminal level, the search of King’s home violated the Fourth Amendment and accordingly suppressed all of the related evidence. The prosecution, in turn, dismissed the charges.

The Civil Suit

King  sued the Montgomery Animal Control and Clarksville Police Department on allegations that they unlawfully seized the dogs in her home without a warrant or due process of law and that her privacy was violated when pictures of her home were circulated on social media

As the criminal process played out, the County cared for the impounded dogs, and it accumulated a large debt. MCAC, after repeated correspondence with King’s attorney, released five of the dogs back to King, the other ten previously having been returned to their rightful owners or adopted.

After discovery, all parties moved for summary judgment or dismissal of the case.

The Federal court on appeal affirmed the original judgment and concluded that neither the warrantless entry into King’s home nor the seizure of the dogs inside violated the Fourth Amendment.

They also found that King’s right to privacy was not violated because  “at the time the photographs were disseminated, King was the subject of a criminal investigation. Even if she did have some privacy interest in her home, that interest was far outweighed by the public’s right to be aware of crimes  committed in their community.”