Floyd Boudreaux and his son are suing the Louisiana SPCA for killing all their seized Pitbulls immediately after seizure in a dogfighting case in which the defendants were eventually acquitted of all charges:
On March 11, 2005, the men were arrested and 57 dogs were seized from their Youngsville home after a Louisiana State Police investigation into alleged dogfighting.
They stood trial in October 2008 and were acquitted of all charges.
According to state law, upon acquittal, all items confiscated from the Boudreauxs should be returned to them, [attorney Richard] Dalton said.
“But all the dogs are dead,” he said.
It will be interesting to see how the court rules in what seems to be a complex case:
According to Louisiana Revised Statute 14:102.6, the law enforcement officer making the arrest can lawfully take possession of suspected fighting dogs and “cause them to be humanely euthanized as soon as possible by a licensed veterinarian or a qualified technician.”
But the law further allows the owners to post a bond with the court “within 15 days after receiving notice of such seizure…”
The Boudreauxs were arrested on a Friday, Dalton said. They were in jail until Monday and were unable to post a bond on their dogs until then.
By then, the dogs were dead, euthanized by the SPCA with 24 hours of being seized in the police raid, he said.
In testimony during their trial, Trooper Jacob Dickinson, a state police investigator who headed the case, said the SPCA gave investigators no prior notice before euthanizing the dogs.
So was this a case of the SPCA going rogue? What’s their explanation for killing the dogs immediately upon seizure?