Do owners of slain companion animals have substantive due process rights?
In Altman v. City of High Point, the Fourth Circuit discusses the 1992 Supreme Court decision in Soldal v. Cook County, which clarified that the Fourth Amendments protections extend to property in which there is no particular privacy or liberty interest.[78] The Fourth Circuits opinion in Altman suggests that the conclusion that dogs are protected property within the ambit of the Fourth Amendment was made possible by the Supreme Courts holding in Soldal.[79] Many pet owners feel that they have a privacy interest in a companion animal, particularly because companion animals occupy roles similar to that of children in the lives of many. A privacy interest in a companion animal, however, may implicate the substantive due process provision of the Fourteenth Amendment. Although a thorough discussion of substantive due process is beyond the scope of this paper, it is worth note that courts shy from substantive due process because it involves significant judicial latitude in determining what
