A former Pittsburgh animal control officer who had a felony charge of animal abuse against him dismissed last month on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against the police officer who charged him, as well as other witnesses in the case alleging that they conspired against him.

James A. Genco III was charged in June with felony aggravated animal cruelty. The charge against him was dismissed by a magistrate judge in September.

The lawsuit said that on March 17, Genco and his partner, Officer John Lapp, were called to the Strip District, where two dogs had been left unattended in a vehicle with its windows up, parked in the sun.

After the officers broke a window of the vehicle to get the dogs out, one of them, a larger dog, became aggressive. The lawsuit said that the dog sustained multiple cuts from the broken window, and was growling and biting the control pole used to contain him.

An officer on the scene, the lawsuit said, pulled his firearm out of fear for his and other officers’ safety.

Once in the animal control vehicle’s cage, the lawsuit continued, the dog continued to bite at the metal, bending the cage and breaking multiple teeth.

The complaint said Genco and his partner then took the dogs to Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh to be examined.

Investigators had said that Genco violently dragged the dog through the facility’s parking garage, making it look like he was “mopping the floor” with the dog and leaving a trail of blood.

However, according to the lawsuit, Genco was simply trying to control the erratic and aggressive dog, who had injured itself because of its behavior biting the cage and pole.

The lawsuit said video of the entire incident showed Genco was not abusive.

The lawsuit names as defendants Pittsburgh police Officer Christine Luffey; Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh; Chief Operations Officer Meagan Montmeny and veterinary technician Camille Jurke; as well as Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Clinic and veterinary technician Emily Gardner.

The complaint accuses the defendants of conspiring against Genco for the purpose of filing false charges.

Genco was charged on June 10 with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals, as well as a misdemeanor and summary offense for cruelty to animals.

The lawsuit alleges that there was no probable cause for any charges, and said that Luffey failed to include exculpatory evidence in her affidavit of probable cause, including the statements from other officers on the scene that day.

After his arrest, according to the complaint, Genco was held for 22 hours at Allegheny County Jail and then suspended from his job with the city.

He was fired a week later.

The charges against Genco, who had been an animal control officer since 1996, were dismissed by a magistrate on Sept. 21.

The lawsuit includes claims for malicious prosecution, false arrest, false imprisonment, conspiracy, defamation and slander.

Messages left late Monday with the city, Humane Animal Rescue and Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Clinic were not immediately returned.

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