Read more
Pet store animals taken to McKamey after months of complaints
A drawn-out lawsuit that accused Chattanooga and its contracted animal services of illegally searching and seizing 82 dogs, cats and even rodents from a Hamilton Place pet store was settled outside of court Friday for an unknown amount.
The federal suit which was filed by the pet store's parent company, United Pet Supply Inc., sought $10 million in damages and raised the issue of whether contracted employees are allowed to perform government functions.
The settlement was reached between attorneys behind closed doors and won't be made public until Tuesday, when the City Council publicly votes on the cost that could leave taxpayers with part of the bill.
In the lawsuit, the company alleged that five years ago McKamey Animal Center, which contracts with Chattanooga for animal control, acted as an agent of the city when officers seized the animals, business records, property and the shop's city permit, all without a warrant - violating the store owners' Fifth and 14th amendment rights.
City attorneys wouldn't comment Friday on the case and it remained unclear to other officials if the issue raised in the suit could still be a problem for the city going forward.
Last year, the City Council voted to overhaul the city's animal code, which Councilman Moses Freeman said fixed lingering questions about how McKamey gave out animal permits. But he didn't know for sure if it addressed McKamey's authority as a government agency.
"I'm pretty sure we closed that loophole," said Freeman, who chaired the committee to approve the new city code. "The next question is, 'Does our ordinance guarantee something like this doesn't happen again?'"
McKamey Animal Center Executive Director Jamie McAloon was also stumped by the question.
"I'm not sure if it's been clarified either," she said Friday afternoon.
City Attorney Wade Hinton didn't return calls seeking comment. And both attorneys for McKamey and United Pet Supply didn't return messages.
In June 2010, McKamey raided the Pet Company after complaints arose that dogs were left to wallow in their own feces and left dehydrated while a live hamster had been thrown into a trash compactor after fighting with his furry cage mates. McKamey then slapped the pet shop with 90 violations of city ordinances that dealt with animal cruelty.
But a day after the animals were seized, the lawsuit claims that McKamey's website posted a link to a petition to close the pet shop. McKamey officials later claimed that a volunteer employee who worked for the city posted the petition without the animal services permission and the post was immediately taken down when it was discovered.
During the hearings to put the store out of business in 2010, Judge Sherry Paty ruled that McKamey's actions with the online petition "suggested a bias and motive." She also ruled that McKamey didn't give the pet store prior notice and time to fix problems with the cooling system and cleanliness and care of the animals. But after Paty's ruling, she quickly recused herself from the case when the mayor at the time, Ron Littlefield, sent the judge an email asking that she not leave McKamey "holding the bag for all the expenses" to care for the animals.
McKamey was later ordered to give back the animals, but the pet store went out of business a year later.
Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick Smith at jsmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.