A Brighton woman, who alleges a police officer wrongfully shot her dog last summer, hopes a new lawsuit will spur more accountability for law enforcement officers who shoot animals.

Deborah Nolan filed the civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court Friday. The complaint alleges that when a Brighton police officer fatally wounded Nolan’s 5-year-old mutt/bulldog mix, Molly, July 2 outside of her Third Avenue home, it was violation of her Fourth Amendment (guarding against illegal search and seizure) and the 14th Amendment (equal protection).

Jennifer Edwards Thomaidis, a lawyer and the founder of the Wheat Ridge-based Animal Law Center, said they hope the suit will raise awareness.

“I think we’re actually going to cause a bit of a stink and make (police departments) raise an awareness of what their officers’ actions are and how their officers handle a lot of these animal cases,” Thomaidis said.

Read the full story in this week's Commerce City Sentinel Express – www.lcni5.com/cgi-bin/c2circ.cgi