Lawsuit Filed Over Police Shooting of Blind, Deaf Dog in Missouri

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STURGEON, Mo. — This week a federal lawsuit was filed against the City of Sturgeon, MO and one of its police officers for shooting a blind, deaf, 13-pound Shih Tzu mix named Teddy. The complaint alleges that the City failed to properly train, supervise, and discipline its officer.

Hunter v. Woodson Complaint

Hunter v. Woodson

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Attorneys Daniel J. Kolde and Eric C. Crinnian filed the suit in United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri on behalf of Nicholas Hunter seeking compensation in excess of $1 million for violation of his rights under the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is providing a grant to help cover costs for the lawsuit. 

Kolde previously secured a $750,000 settlement with St. Louis County, Missouri and several of its officers for the unlawful killing of a dog named Kiya.

“Unfortunately, these types of shootings occur all too frequently. Contrary to the common misconception that ‘it’s just a dog,’ every federal circuit to have addressed the issue has held that the unreasonable killing of a companion animal by law enforcement violates the owner’s most fundamental rights as secured by the Fourth Amendment,” says Attorney Daniel J. Kolde.

In an incident that has drawn international media attention, on May 19, 2024, a neighbor found Teddy wandering in her backyard after he escaped his own fenced yard. Because the police in the 900-person town of Sturgeon also are responsible for animal control duties, the neighbor called them to assist in locating Teddy’s owner.

Body camera footage shows the officer arriving and spending about three minutes attempting to use his snare pole to try and lasso Teddy before finally giving up and simply shooting him at close range. The footage clearly shows the small, blind dog posed no threat to the officer or anyone else.

National expert Dr. James Crosby, who authored the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) manual on Law Enforcement Dog Encounters Training, said after viewing the footage that this could be the “least justifiable dog shooting I’ve ever witnessed in my 30+ years working with law enforcement.”

In the United States, the number one reason a police officer discharges their weapon is to shoot at a dog, and the DOJ has estimated that as many as 10,000 dogs are annually shot and killed by police. The issue also is one that the Animal Legal Defense Fund has been involved with for many years. In 2015, we helped pass a law in Texas mandating statewide animal encounter training for all police officers that reduced the number of such shootings by over 90 percent. In 2016, the Animal Legal Defense Fund also helped fund the documentary Of Dogs And Men, which explores solutions to the problem and features the organization’s current executive director, Chris Green. In 2020 Green also authored and helped pass an American Bar Association Resolution recommending comprehensive animal encounter training for all law enforcement officers.

“This is such an unnecessary, and preventable problem,” says Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Chris Green. “It all comes down to providing police officers with adequate training and then holding all involved accountable. The goal is to prevent these tragedies from ever happening in the first place.”

Courts around the country have recognized for several decades that many of these shootings are unjustified. In 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that “the Fourth Amendment forbids the killing of a person’s dog, or the destruction of a person’s property, when that destruction is unnecessary––i.e., when less intrusive, or less destructive, alternatives exist.” The court further declared, “We have recognized that dogs are more than just a personal effect. The emotional attachment to a family’s dog is not comparable to a possessory interest in furniture.”

“I hope this case can generate attention that will result in state-level laws to provide mandatory training and procedures for all law enforcement or anyone that could possibly have interactions with animals,” says Teddy’s guardian Nick Hunter. “I just don’t want anyone else to experience what we’re going through.”