No Free Exercise Violation In Requiring Dog Be Vaccinated Before Being Adopted From City Shelter

In a variation on the typical free exercise objection to vaccination requirements, a Florida federal district court has dismissed a claim that the Department of Animal Services in Clearwater, Florida violated a Largo, Florida man's rights by insisting that the dog he wished to adopt first have various shots.  In Fohrmeister v. Doe, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90702 (MD FL, July 27, 2011), a federal magistrate judge, in an opinion adopted by the court (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90704, Aug. 15, 2011), held that the pro se plaintiff had failed to allege sufficient facts to make clear what his religious beliefs were. Moreover, "the burden posed by the applicable law on any religious belief or practice appears tangential and attenuated at best."