United States Second Circuit

In a suit against the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and others, alleging various federal constitutional violations, arising from a search and seizure of plaintiff's property, arrest on animal abuse charges, and the seizure, spaying and neutering, and fostering of plaintiff's dogs during the pendency of state criminal proceedings, district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants is affirmed, as although defendants acted under color of state law when they sterilized plaintiff's dogs and fostered them out to temporary homes following their seizure, defendants are nevertheless entitled to qualified immunity on plaintiff's due process claims, as their actions did not violate any "clearly established" constitutional or statutory right. The defendants involved in the search and arrest are entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff's malicious prosecution, unreasonable search and seizure, and First Amendment retaliation claims because their actions were supported by probable cause.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/16/2012
• Published 08/16/2012

Judges

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel