Can a third grader identify a third-rate circus? Courts weigh activist rights

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

SCRANTON, Pa.–A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit on April 15 unanimously upheld the
dismissal of a lawsuit against the Lacka-wanna Trail School District
in Scranton, Pennsylvania, alleging that Amanda Walker-Serrano,
then a third grader, was denied her First Amendment right to freedom
of expression in February 1999 when her school stopped her from
petitioning against a class trip to the Shriners’ circus in
Wilkes-Barre.
Amanda Walker-Serrano is the daughter of Scranton animal
advocates Lisa Walker and Michael Serrano. Her rights were not
violated, Judge Anthony J. Scirica wrote, because she was allowed
to distribute coloring books and stickers about animal abuse.

McDonald’s lawsuit award still in dispute

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

CHICAGO–Cook County Judge Richard Siebel on March 25
disqualified three of the 26 organizations that were named to share
the $10 million settlement of a class action brought against
McDonald’s Corp. for concealing from vegetarians that its French
fries are seasoned with beef broth.
Dropped due to alleged conflicts of interest involving
attorneys who worked on the case were the National Ramah Commission,
representing Conservative Jews; Arya Pratinidhi Sabha America, a
Hindu group; and the Department of Nutrition at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Whether new organizations will be named to replace these
three is reportedly undecided. Plaintiffs opposed to the settlement
indicated that they would appeal.

Dairies win two cases

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

Ruling that government agencies are exempt from the
prohibitions on false advertising that apply to private citizens,
San Francisco Superior Court Judge David Garcia on March 25 dismissed
a lawsuit by PETA against a “Happy cows” ad campaign sponsored by the
California Milk Advisory Board. Arguing that scenes of cows in green
pastures used in the ads misrepresent the reality of how California
dairy cattle are kept, PETA previously complained to the Federal
Trade Commission. The FTC declined to take action in October 2002.

The Pennsylvania State Superior Court on April 8 upheld a
$96,000 verdict against the Fayette County SPCA for alleged invasion
of privacy in April 1993 while investigating the purported theft of a
dog and cruelty to a heifer reported by dairy farmer John Tabaj’s
former son-in-law during a messy divorce case. Tabaj was charged
with five counts of cruelty, but the charges were later dropped.
The incident caused the Pennsyl-vania legislature to mandate in
December 1994 that humane officers must be appointed by a judge. A
Fayette County jury in January 1992 ordered the $96,000 penalty
against the Fayette County SPCA, and ordered Tri-County Humane
Protection Inc., also involved in the raid, to pay Tabaj $105,000.
Tri-County Humane Protection is now defunct. The Fayette County SPCA
has indicated that the size of the award will force it to close,
too, leaving the county without an animal shelter.

REVIEWS: Animal Abuse: Why Cops Can and Need to Stop it

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

Animal Abuse: Why Cops Can & Need To Stop It
Video from In The Line of Duty (P.O. Box 6798, Brentwood Station,
St. Louis, MO 63144), 2002. 35 minutes. $95.00.

Matthew Kaczorowski, 21, pleaded guilty to mischief on
April 9, 2003 in Toronto. The last of three participants to face
justice for making a purported “art video” of the torture killing of
a cat, Kaczorowski was arrested in Vancouver and flown back to
Toronto for trial approximately one year after Jesse Power, 22, was
sentenced to serve 90 days in jail on weekends followed by 18 months
of house arrest (which he has appealed), and Anthony Wennekers, 25,
was sentenced to the 11 months he spent in jail awaiting trial.

Supreme Court affirms HFA Rosebud win

April 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2003–

WASHINGTON D.C.–The U.S. Supreme Court on February 24 handed
the Humane Farming Association a hard-won victory over factory hog
farming on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, declining
to review an April 2002 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals verdict
that Bell Farms and Sun Prairie Inc. had no legal standing to seek a
1999 injunction that allowed them to build and run the first two of
13 planned hog facilities.
“We can now plan an orderly shutdown,” attorney Jim
Dougherty told Associated Press. Dougherty represents HFA, the
Concerned Rosebud Area Citizens, and other hog farm opponents.

Would you buy a used car from this man?

April 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2003:

HARTFORD–Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal “is
investigating whether the Animal Health Care Fund is just a clever
vehicle for a used car dealership to help itself,” reported Alan
Cohn of WTNH-News 8 on February 18.
Explained Cohn, “Some charitable organizations use donated
vehicles as a way to raise money. Donors receive a tax decution for
the fair market value of their car. The charity then re-sells the
vehicle and uses the money.”
The IRS in two mid-2002 rulings authorized charities to use
outside firms–such as used car dealers–to manage vehicle donation
programs.

Civil disobedience comes to farm country

April 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2003–

ITHACA, TOLEDO, SALT LAKE CITY, TEXAS
CITY, TWIN FALLS–Purported anti-terrorism bills
pushed in recent legislative sessions by
lawmakers in Texas, Oregon, Utah, and
Pennsylvania, among other states, have sought
to criminalize almost any unauthorized exposure
of anything done in the name of agriculture.
Factory farmers are finding that even
when they win convictions of activists who enter
their property to rescue animals and document
suffering, they lose in the court of public
opinion. Prosecuting rescuers, moreover,
appears to increase the public perception that
the farmers are cruel–even when the farms are
traditional family operations.

Toys for pigs?

April 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2003–

BRUSSELS–British agricultural officials
and information media are significantly
misrepresenting an October 2001 European Union
directive on pig welfare, says European
Commission spokesperson Beate Gminder.
“Britain’s farmers have three months to
place a toy in every pigsty or face up to 90 days
in prison or a £1,000 fine,” BBC declared on
January 29, 2003.
“We mean footballs and basketballs.
Farmers may need to change the balls so that the
pigs don’t get tired of them,” a U.K. Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
spokesperson told The Times.

Wolves may be left with nowhere to run

April 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2003–

WASHINGTON D.C.–The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on March
18 began the process of downlisting grey wolves in the Lower 48
mainland states from “endangered” to “threatened” status, except for
Mexican grey wolves in Arizona and New Mexico and the reintroduced
population in and around Yellowstone National Park.
USFWS said there are now about 664 wolves in the Yellowstone
ecosystem, 2,445 wolves in Minnesota, where they were downlisted in
1978, and 600 in Wisconsin and Michigan.

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