Category: Law

Trying to save fighting dogs five years after the Michael Vick case

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2012:

MANILA, COLUMBUS, Ohio– Incidents on opposite sides of the
world have rekindled debate over the wisdom of expending humane
resources to try to rehome dogs of known violent history and behavior.
Within the space of 10 days:
* The Philippine Animal Welfare Society took temporary
custody of 266 pit bulls who were seized on March 30, 2012 from a
dogfighting ring in San Pablo, Laguna, the Philippines.
* Three small children and an 18-year-old woman in different
parts of the U.S. suffered disfiguring injuries inflicted by recently
rehomed pit bulls.

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South Korean judge tells marine park to release dolphins

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:
South Korean judge tells marine park to release dolphins

    JEJU, South Korea–-Jeju District Court Judge Kim Kyeong-seon on April 5,  2012 ordered the dolphin show promotion company Jeju Pacific Land to release five dolphins who were illegally captured from waters surrounding Jeju Island.  Judge Kim Kyeong-seon also fined Jeju Pacific Land $9,000 and issued suspended jail sentences to the company president and one employee.  The five dolphins who are to be released were among 11 who were allegedly captured for Jeju Pacific Land.  The newsaper Dong-A Ilbo reported that five of the dolphins died.  One was traded to a zoo for two sea lions. Read more

Cockfighting, murder, & a lawsuit over use of a wheeled tank to make a bust

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Cockfighting,  murder,  & a lawsuit over use of a wheeled tank to make a bust

McALLEN,  Texas;  ALEOSAN, North Cotabato, Philippines–Cockfighting preceded mass murder twice during the second week of April 2012.  The killers in each case escaped,  and if identified,  were not named to media by survivors and law enforcement.
Ramiro Garcia,  49,  his brother Juan Santos Garcia,  53, and Arturo Buentello Garza,  42,  were shot dead and eight people were wounded on April 20,  2012 by two to four gunmen who allegedly fired “indiscriminately” into the crowd at a cockfight 20 miles northeast of McAllen, Texas,  Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino told media.  “Trevino said Garza was likely a bystander,  but the Garcias were known to authorities for previous criminal activity, including drug possession,”  reported Christopher Sherman of Associated Press.  Arraigned for promoting cockfighting were land owners Heriberto Leandro,  51,  his wife Leticia Leandro,  52,  and Humberto Blanco,  37,  the alleged organizer. Read more

Legislation in the cowboy states

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Legislation in the cowboy states

    BOISE,  PHOENIX–Idaho Governor Butch Otter in early April 2012 signed into law a bill creating a felony cruelty penalty for a third conviction within 15 years.  Only the Dakotas still lack felony cruelty penalties.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer two weeks later endorsed into law a bill by state representative Penny Judd which exempts dogs used in ranching and herding from anti-cruelty laws.  Judd introduced the bill after one of her constituents was prosecuted for leaving two dogs in a horse trailer for two days without food or water.  Three others were left tied without clean water.

Political intervention weakens new puppy mill legislation in four states

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Political intervention weakens new puppy mill legislation in four states

AUSTIN,  HARRISBURG,  OKLAHOMA CITY,  SPRINGFIELD–Recently passed laws meant to curb puppy mills appear to have been crippled by political intervention in four states.
The Pennsylvania Dog Law Advisory Board on April 25,  2012 met for the first time since Republican Governor Tom Corbett took office in January 2011.  Among other duties,  the board is charged with enforcing an anti-puppy mill law introduced in 2008 by previous governor Ed Rendell,  a Democrat. Read more

EU battery cage ban & the price of eggs

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

EU battery cage ban & the price of eggs

    BRUSSELS—The price of eggs in the shell  doubled,  while egg production fell 15% in the first four months after a European Union ban on battery caging,  according to the European Egg Producers Association.
“The EU acknowledges that there has been a clear reduction in eggs because of the cage ban but blames the industry for not taking action earlier,”  reported Raf Casert of Associated Press.  “The EU gave producers a dozen years to adapt their equipment to the animal friendly rules–but many still haven’t complied.   Those who prepared have reaped high profits as prices soar,”  Casert wrote.

Rhino horn trafficking bust nets pro rodeo champion Wade Steffen

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

 

LONG BEACH,  Calif.–-Rhino horn trafficking and rodeo intersected in February 2012 with the arrest of 2010 All-American ProRodeo Finals steer wrestling co-champion Wade Steffen,  32,  in Hico,  Texas,  along with alleged California co-conspirators Jimmy Kha, 49,  Mai Nguyen, 41,  Kha’s son Felix,  26,  and Jin Zhao Feng, a Chinese citizen who allegedly arranged the transport of the horns to China.
Steffen,  the Khas,  and Nguyen were charged with rhino horn trafficking in violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act.  The Lacey Act prohibits interstate traffic in protected species. Read more

Judge limits Bonneville sea lion cull toll to 30

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

    WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg on March 22,  2012 denied an injunction sought by the Humane Society of the U.S. against a National Marine Fisheries Service decision to allow California sea lions to be  culled at the Bonne-ville Dam on the Columbia River to protect endangered spring salmon runs–but Boasberg restricted the proposed killing to 30 sea lions per year, rather than the 92 proposed by NMFS,  and ordered that the sea lions may not be shot.
California sea lions eat under 4% of the Columbia River salmon runs,  according to federal studies.  But Oregon and Washington have for more than 15 years blamed sea lions for declining catches.  HSUS and other organizations have repeatedly blocked or restricted proposed sea lion culls by filing lawsuits invoking the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

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