Can Officers Force Entry To Check on the Welfare of Animals?

Scenario: While working patrol, an officer receives a call at an apartment complex that a dog in an adjacent apartment is whimpering as though it needs help. When the officer arrives, they hear the dog whaling as though it's in pain. The officer contacts the resident but he won't let you come inside to check on the dogs. In fact, he even denies owning a dog.

Can Officers Force Entry To Check on the Welfare of Animals?

Answer: The California Court of Appeals Case of People v. Chung from 2010 provides guidance. The court said, "Exigent circumstances properly may be found when an officer reasonably believes immediate warrantless entry into a residence is required to aid a live animal in distress. Where an officer reasonably believes an animal on the property is in immediate need of aid due to injury or mistreatment, the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment may be invoked to permit warrantless entry to aid the animal."

Keep in mind that the totality of the circumstances must lead an officer to reasonably believe the animal is in distress and needs immediate help. For example, in this case, officers had information from a credible citizen that the dog was in distress, they could hear the animal in pain, and the owner not only refused the officers entry but also denied owning dogs at all, so "his credibility was immediately cast into doubt."

And if you think the 9th Circuit would never agree with this, you should check out the unpublished case Barraza v. Bodnar from 2018. There, the 9th Circuit cited the Chung Case in concluding that the officers' warrantless entry in the homeowner's backyard and subsequent arrest animal cruelty was lawful and did not violate their constitutional rights.

As always, officers should make sure they understand their agency's policy on this issue because their agency can have more restrictive policies than the law requires.