A federal judge ended part of the amended lawsuit of a Eureka woman who alleged Woodford County Animal Control improperly fostered the euthanasia of her cat by finding the allegations in her complaint didn’t support her claims against the clinic or veterinarians involved in the death.
Sarah Keim said she adopted a cat, Kiki, in January 2023 and kept her with her when she worked at a salon in Eureka. She said Woodford County Animal Control Administrator Tim Abney came to the salon in March 2023, responding to a biting allegation. Keim claimed she provided documentation regarding Kiki’s veterinary care, then he took the cat and told Keim Kiki was going to the University of Illinois for rabies testing.
However, Keim alleged, what actually happened is Abney took Kiki to Associated, a Washington animal clinic, where he completed a euthanasia authorization form identifying the cat as a stray not known to have bitten a person or animal. She said this allowed Abney — despite not being a veterinarian — to bypass a statutory 10-day waiting period for a rabies evaluation. Keim alleged a veterinarian at the clinic then euthanized her kitten.
Two veterinarians moved to dismiss Keim’s claim they violated her Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable seizure, arguing she didn’t correct a pleading failure that caused dismissal of her original complaint, specifically the pleading of a constitutional violation without also invoking the 14th Amendment.
According to a May 23 opinion from U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade, that failure is compounded by Keim’s insistence the doctors could be sued under a state law as agents of the government when they were only acting as private individuals. Although Abney is indisputably a government employee, McDade said, Keim would need to show the veterinarians conspired with Abney to deprive her of a protected right.
While Keim said it is enough to show an agreement for the clinic to provide services in exchange for government compensation, McDade said Keim’s allegations paint a picture of Abney as deceitful: informing the clinic Kiki was a stray, certifying himself as the owner and getting a rabies test form sent to the Illinois Department of Public Health referencing an unprovoked bite and local health department approval.
“These alleged facts support that defendant veterinarians were duped into completing a task for Abney after he arrived at their place of work,” McDade wrote. “This transaction, without more, is not enough to demonstrate that the private individuals acted under the color of state law.”
McDade further rejected Keim’s negligence allegations against the doctors, finding her position presumes veterinarians are legally bound to independently investigate animal ownership rather than rely on the representations of a county official. Supporting such a position, he said, would require allegations the doctors knew Keim; that they had treated Kiki; or had any reason to suspect the kitten was a pet and not a stray.
Instead, McDade wrote, Keim alleged “Abney made several misrepresentations to dupe defendant veterinarians into euthanizing Kiki, molding his story to make them believe the procedure was lawful,” including a claim a clinic employee later told her they wouldn’t have killed the cat had they known she was a pet with a medical record.
Finally, McDade tossed claims of vicarious liability against the clinic on the same grounds as his dismissal of the negligence claims against the doctors.
Keim is represented by Jason Jording, of James Kelly Law Firm, Peoria. He declined to comment on the matter as portions of the litigation remain pending.