Animal rights groups are going to court to fight “ag-gag” laws, which punish would-be whistleblowers who record activity on farms and at animal procession facilities.
Widely regarded by legal experts as one of the world’s most powerful statutes for protection of wildlife and ecosystems, the Nixon-era Endangered Species Act has halted the decline of hundreds of species along with protecting their habitats. But the unified political support that led to the act has vanished.
A racehorse owner who claims that a First Amendment right to register the name of his thoroughbred as “Malpractice Meuser” can proceed with his federal lawsuit as a result of a federal appeals court's decision.
Steven M. Wise, a legal warrior for animal rights who argued that chimpanzees, elephants, whales and other highly intelligent creatures have a fundamental right to liberty, no less than the humans who often confined or killed them, died Feb. 15 at his home in Coral Springs, Florida. He was 73.
The ABA House of Delegates on Monday at the 2024 ABA Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, adopted a resolution urging Congress and federal agencies to promote the development and use of methods that aim to replace, reduce and refine the use of animal models in research and testing.
A federal appeals court has upheld two “ag-gag” laws in Iowa in a First Amendment challenge by the Animal Legal Defense Fund and other animal welfare groups.
Citing the First Amendment, a Chicago-based federal appeals court has struck down changes to a Wisconsin “hunter harassment law” that bans recording and approaching hunters.
An estimated 10,000 dogs are fatally shot by U.S. law enforcement officers each year, according to the Department of Justice. Some incidents result in lawsuits citing Fourth Amendment violations, including unreasonable search and seizure, and challenge an officer’s immunity. Some generate settlements of more than $1 million.
Forensic veterinary investigations are a growing force in animal law, with vets working at the intersection of law and veterinary medicine. On any given case, the scope of the vet’s work runs from crime scene investigations, lab work, animal autopsies and report writing to serving as an expert witness in court.
“The tide is definitely changing on the perception of the importance of investigating animal cruelty,” says Martha Smith-Blackmore, president of Forensic Veterinary Investigations in Boston. “Crimes against animals do not exist in a vacuum.”
An animal cruelty law does not reach a dog owner who ignored a veterinarian’s recommendation to euthanize her suffering, terminally ill dog, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled.
For nearly five years, a 70-pound black Labrador mix named Luna has been at the center of a dispute that started in a Camden County, New Jersey, condominium complex in New Jersey and now sits before the state’s highest court.
Last month, the city of Seattle settled a “rights of nature” case pending in the Sauk-Suiattle Tribal Court of Appeals that was filed on behalf of salmon harmed by dams on the Skagit River.
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