Category: Law

Anti-fur “hit” plot suspect released

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2013:

CLEVELAND––U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan in February 2013 released Meredith Marie Lowell, 28,  after a year-long mental evaluation at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas,  the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on March 4.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation took Lowell into custody on February 21,  2012,  following a four-month  investigation of Facebook solicitations in which Lowell allegedly solicited the murder of “someone who is wearing fur.” Read more

Triple murder follows dogfighting raids that net 62 suspects and 120 pit bulls

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2013:

Walking inside,  the unidentified man found the bodies,   and a two-month-old baby girl  beneath Carter’s arm.  “It looked as if she was protecting the baby when she was killed,”  Oneida County Sheriff Jeff Semrad told media. Sheriff’s deputies found 64 pit bulls chained in two dog yards.  Both dog yards were visible in photographs taken from two county highways intersecting near the scene,  and found 38 marijuana plants, with a cumulative street value estimated at $95,000.  Bruce Christensen,  brother of Brent,  told media that Brent had served prison time for drug-related offenses.

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New farm animal welfare standards

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2013:

Humane Farm Animal Care revised standards for raising cattle have since January 15,  2012 required farmers to use analgesia for pain control when conducting procedures such as castration.  “HFAC is the only national animal welfare organization to make pain control a key component of farm animal welfare certification standards.  We have been working to educate farmers and ranchers on how to implement the new standards,”  said HFAC founder Adele Douglass. Read more

U.S. will back bid to win Appendix II CITES protection for sharks and rays

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:

WASHINGTON D.C.–– U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director
Dan Ashe on February 26, 2013 told media that the U.S. will endorse
proposals to restrict traffic in the fins of porbeagle, scalloped
hammerhead, great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, and oceanic whitetip
sharks, and in the gill plates of manta rays.
If approved by the 16th triennial meeting of the 177-nation
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Bangkok in
March, the five shark species and manta rays will be uplisted to CITES
Appendix II status. The listing proposals must be approved by
two-thirds of the national delegations in attendance. Trade in Appendix
II species is permitted but regulated to ensure species survival. Trade
is prohibited for Appendix I species.

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Dolphins in India

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

CHENNAI––The Animal Welfare Board of India on January 14,  2013 ordered state governments and wildlife agencies to deny permits to anyone who “proposes to import or capture any cetacean [whale or dolphin] species for training,  to use as a performing animal for commercial entertainment,  private or public exhibition,  private or human interaction, educational or research purposes.”  The directive formalizes policies which have informally prevailed against would-be marine mammal exhibitors since 1998,  when a now defunct Chennai aquarium called Dolphin City imported four dolphins from Bulgaria.  All four died within six months.  Whether the AWBI directive can be enforced is likely to be tested by would-be developers of dolphin parks in Mumbai,  Delhi,  and coastal Kerala state.

Big Cat Rescue wins $953,000 judgement against traveling exhibitor

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

TAMPA,  Fla––U.S. District Court Judge Mary Stenson Scriven on February 8,  2013 ruled that Oklahoma wildlife exhibitor Joe Schreibvogel,  doing business as Entertainment Group.  Inc. and G.W. Exotic Memorial Animal Foundation, has since 2010 infringed on copyrights and trademarks belonging to Big Cat Rescue,  of Tampa,  Florida,  by using photos belonging to Big Cat Rescue and a logo similar to that of Big Cat Rescue to promote his shows under the name “Big Cat Rescue Entertainment.”  Scriven at the same time dismissed counterclaims filed by Schreibvogel.  Scriven awarded Big Cat Rescue damages of $653,000 plus $300,000 for legal expenses.       Read more

Farm animal cruelty convictions lead to “ag-gag” laws rather than reform

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

Farm animal cruelty convictions lead to “ag-gag” laws rather than reform

RALEIGH,  N.C.,  BOISE,  Idaho––Former Butterball employees Terry Johnson and Billy McBride were on February 24,   2013 convicted of abusing turkeys at a farm  in Shannon,  North Carolina,  in 2011.

 “Johnson and McBride join Butterball workers Brian Douglas and Ruben Mendoza,  who were convicted in 2012 of criminal cruelty to animals arising out of the same investigation,”  said Mercy for Animals founder Nathan Runkle.  Mercy for Animals conducted the undercover video investigation that led to the charges. Read more

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