(Updated to include response from the Agriculture Department)
A federal judge has blocked the state from carrying out warrantless searches of boarding and training kennels as part of regulating animal welfare in Kansas.
After a bench trial in late May, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil found in favor of an award-winning bird dog trainer from Cowley County who challenged part of the Kansas Pet Animal Act as unconstitutional.
Vratil agreed with plaintiffs Scott Johnson and Harlene Hoyt that the law authorized unreasonable warrantless searches of Covey Find Kennel in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The kennel is run on property the couple owns east of Winfield.
In 1972, the state enacted the Kansas Pet Animal Act, which regulates animal dealers, pet shop operators, pounds, animal shelters and research facilities.
The Kansas Legislature began regulating boarding or training kennels and conducting
warrantless searches in 1991, approximately 34 years ago.
The regulations for boarding and training kennels cover housing, cleaning, pest control, feeding and watering, veterinary care, and more.
The case before the court only focused on boarding and training kennels, not the other pet facilities that are regulated under the pet animal law.
The state had argued that boarding and training kennels were a new and emerging industry that pose health and safety problems if left unregulated.
Vratil said that while the state’s goals were “laudable,” it failed to show that boarding and training kennels pose “a substantial risk of abuse, neglect or disease, given the fact that the kennels are not inherently dangerous…”
Vratil noted at one point that the attorney general and the livestock commissioner thought
that regulation of boarding kennels was not necessary.
The judge found that the state did not show, among other things, that it had a substantial interest in regulating boarding and training kennels and that warrantless, unannounced searches were necessary to further its interest.
Johnson trained and handled bird dogs on property he co-owned with Hoyt, making their entire homestead subject to the searches and inspections in question in the case.
Operators must apply to renew their licenses yearly. By accepting a license, operators consent to an inspector entering their property and conducting an inspection.
Operating a boarding or training kennel without a license is a misdemeanor.
The judge also found that the law violated the Constitution because it required boarding and training kennel operators to waive their Fourth Amendment rights by requiring them to consent to surprise, routine warrantless inspections to get their licenses renewed.
“This case wasn’t just about Scott and Harlene,” said Sam MacRoberts, who represented the couple on behalf of the Kansas Justice Institute, which is part of the free-market-oriented Kansas Policy Institute.
“It was about every Kansan’s right to be secure in their own home. The government can’t sidestep the Constitution just because it finds it inconvenient.”’
The Division of Animal Health within the state Department of Agriculture oversees, implements and enforces the Animal Facilities Inspection Program.
The judge’s order bars the state from conducting surprise, routine warrantless inspections of boarding and training kennel operators, of which there were 214 as of 2024.
The law defines a boarding or training kennel operator as anyone who operates an
establishment where four or more dogs or cats – or both – are kept in any one week during the licensing year for boarding, training or similar purposes for pay.
The injunction also prohibits the state from conditioning the renewal for a boarding and training kennel operator license based on an operator waiving their constitutional right to a surprise, routine warrantless inspection.
The court order only applies to boarding or training kennels. It does not apply to routine warrantless inspections of any other type of animal facility regulated by the state, such as a pound or animal shelter.
The injunction also does not affect the state’s ability to inspect boarding and training kennels subject to a criminal search warrant.
“We are pleased that the federal court saw things our way,” Johnson said in a statement.
“The wellbeing of the animals in our care is priority one around here, our clients know and appreciate that about us. This will come as a relief to other trainers and boarding kennels around the state,” Johnson said.
The state said it would comply with the court order.
“We respect the decision of the court, and we are abiding by terms of the injunction to ensure we continue to operate in compliance with the judge’s ruling,” said Heather Lansdowne, spokesperson for Agriculture Department.
The lawsuit challenging the law was first filed in 2022. Vratil dismissed the claims in 2023, and the case was appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The federal appellate court reversed Vratil’s ruling and sent the case back to the lower court for further review leading to the latest decision.
The court is retaining jurisdiction over this case to ensure compliance with this injunction.
