Animal Law

Cited by animal control in dog dispute, couple responds with ‘douchebag’ yard sign

After new neighbors asked a Texas family to keep their four dogs inside until later in the morning, James and Lisa Price say they tried to cooperate with the retired couple. But a $121 ticket from the municipal animal control department after the dogs “were going nuts” about something one…

Aug 14, 2015 1:45 PM CDT

If US were to prosecute over Cecil the lion’s slaying in Africa, what would legal basis be?

Following news that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service was seeking to question a Minnesota dentist who has been linked to a high-profile lion-poaching case in Zimbabwe, Africa, observers wondered what the legal basis might be. There is speculation that American officials may be looking for possible violations of the…

Aug 5, 2015 11:15 AM CDT

Judge overturns Idaho ‘ag gag’ law barring undercover videos at agricultural facilities

A federal judge in Idaho has found that Idaho’s so-called “ag gag” law violates the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled on Monday, striking down the law that criminalizes undercover videos at agricultural facilities, report the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and the Idaho Statesman. The…

Aug 4, 2015 11:41 AM CDT

Judge denies habeas for chimps, suggests possible change in the future

A Manhattan judge has refused to grant a writ of habeas corpus to chimpanzees Hercules and Leo, who are used for research on primate locomotion at Stony Brook University. Judge Barbara Jaffe said she was bound by a New York appeals decision that found chimps don’t have the same status…

Jul 31, 2015 7:18 AM CDT

US seeks to question Minnesota dentist in shooting of Cecil the lion

Already sought for questioning by authorities in Zimbabwe over the claimed poaching of a popular lion allegedly lured from an African national park to be hunted and slain, a Minnesota dentist is now in hot water in the U.S. as well. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has tried without…

Jul 30, 2015 4:55 PM CDT

9th Circuit rejects widow’s suit over fatal mountain goat attack in national park

Sovereign immunity protects the U.S. government from being held liable for a mountain goat’s fatal attack on an Olympic National Park visitor, a divided federal appeals court has ruled. The National Park Service had discretion under the Federal Tort Claims Act to decide how the 370-pound wild animal that was…

Jul 29, 2015 1:18 PM CDT

City wins federal civil rights case over police shooting of dog attacked by pit bull

A downstate Illinois family had sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages from the city of Champaign because a color-blind police officer shot their pedigreed chocolate Labrador retriever to death after it was attacked by a stray pit bull. However, a jury didn’t see the federal civil rights case…

Jul 13, 2015 10:25 AM CDT

Dogged by animal officer, lawyer says castration case is a ‘monumental waste of resources’

A New Orleans lawyer is citing the Constitution and a “monumental waste of resources” in a motion seeking to toss a summons in a case targeting him for failing to renew a “certificate of intactness” for his dog. Lawyer Arthur Lemann III labels the certificate a “scarlet letter” for dogs…

Jun 25, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Judge sues neighbors over injuries she suffered in donkey attack

A Washington state judge has sued her neighbors over injuries she suffered in a donkey attack last year, alleging that they failed to warn her about a defective fence post and the animal’s “dangerous propensities.” For a decade, King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector walked her two golden retrievers…

Jun 23, 2015 12:20 PM CDT

Chameleon owner who blew pot smoke in its mouth is acquitted of animal cruelty

A Chicago man who blew pot smoke in his chameleon’s mouth and posted a video of it on Facebook has been acquitted of a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge. Judge Robert Kuzas of Cook County, Illinois, acquitted 40-year-old Bruce Blunt on Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reports. Kuzas said Blunt’s behavior was…

May 29, 2015 7:00 AM CDT

Charges dropped against military veteran who smashed car window to rescue dog

Being left in a hot car can be lethal for a child or a pet, so when Desert Storm veteran Michael Hammons spotted a Yorkshire terrier in a vehicle in a Georgia parking lot earlier this month, he didn’t hesitate. Using a metal piece from his wife’s wheelchair, the 46-year-old…

May 19, 2015 3:45 PM CDT

After animal activists herald chimp habeas victory, judge amends her order

Animal activists were in a celebratory mood on Tuesday after a Manhattan judge ordered Stony Brook University to justify its detention of two chimpanzees and labeled her action a “writ of habeas corpus.” But Judge Barbara Jaffe’s “habeas” label was a mistake, according to a court spokesperson, and she amended…

Apr 22, 2015 7:01 AM CDT

Nation’s top court OKs state ban on pedicures by foot-nibbling fish

Arizona appellate courts said a state agency acted within its constitutional powers by prohibiting pedicures by foot-nibbling fish and the nation’s top court apparently agrees. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused without comment to hear an appeal by Phoenix area spa operator Cindy Vong over the pedicure prohibition, reports…

Apr 20, 2015 3:15 PM CDT

Jury awards couple nearly $240K over neighbors’ barking dogs

An Oregon jury has awarded nearly $240,000 to a Rogue River couple who said they had to listen to their neighbors’ dogs constant barking for over a decade. Plaintiffs Dale and Debra Krein said in the Jackson County suit that John Updegraff and Karen Szewc began breeding Tibetan mastiffs in…

Apr 16, 2015 3:45 PM CDT

Rancher ticketed for riding horse to Taco Bell

A little over a century ago, horses and horse-drawn vehicles were the norm on urban streets, rather than motorized vehicles. But times have changed considerably since then, and a Texas man has the ticket to prove it. Two weeks ago, after Allen police said they repeatedly warned him, Rick Braun…

Apr 10, 2015 1:20 PM CDT