Legal Niches

Pennsylvania Bar Institute to Host Animal Law Seminar

Posted on August 09, 2009
August 13th and 26th in Mechanicsburg and Philadelphia respectively.  This is the PBI’s 6th year doing this.  CLE is available.  More info here.

A Bill to Ban Aerial Wolf Hunting

Posted on August 08, 2009
I’m fresh off the Long Trail.  Every year, my son and I head into the Vermont woods to be together and to be alone.  These are the best of times. During my absence some good things happened.  For example, Judge Sotomayor got confirmed.  Plus, a few tentative steps were taken to halt the shooting of wolves [...

Leiter?s Poll on Veganism

Posted on August 08, 2009
Over at the “Law School Reports” blog, Professor Brian Leiter is conducting an interesting (unscientific) poll on “what is your attitude towards veganism?”.  Given that I’m a vegetarian, I voted for the option stating “Veganism is the morally most defensible dietary regimen, and I admire those who adopt it and wish I could do the [...

Journalists Argue that Criminalizing the Depiction of Animal Cruelty is Counterproductive

Posted on August 06, 2009
A respected association of journalists – the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) – filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case dealing with whether it is a violation of the first amendment to criminalize the depiction of animal cruelty...

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Animal Cruelty Now a Felony in Arkansas

Posted on August 03, 2009
As of July 29th, 2009 (last Friday), animal cruelty became a felony in Arkansas.  Act 33 makes torturing a dog, cat or horse a felony on first offense, punishable by up to 6 years in prison and a $10k fine.  There’s a 5 year sentencing enhancement if any of these acts are committed in front [...

Bullfights in?.California?

Posted on August 03, 2009
One of the most vexing problems that animal advocates face is fighting animal cruelty that is justified by reference to religious traditions. David has written about the problem here. A not so well known instance where there is a clash between religion and cruelty is in California?s San Joaquin Valley, where the hot [...

Brief Ruminations on Spanish Anti-Cruelty Laws

Posted on August 01, 2009
While writing the syllabus for the comparative criminal law seminar that I will teach in Buenos Aires this September, I stumbled upon Spain’s anti-cruelty statutes. It seems that in Spain it’s only a crime to mistreat companion animals (Art...

Joyce Tischler is ABA TIPS Animal Law Section Honoree

Posted on July 30, 2009
Joyce Tischler will be honored by the Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice (TIPS) Animal Law Section at the American Bar Association which convenes this week in Chicago.   Tischler, co-founder of the ALDF and animal advocate for three decades, will be presented with the Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award...

Animal Advocacy: A Threat to All That?s Right and Good?

Posted on July 29, 2009
Here’s a newsflash: animal rights people control the discourse on animal issues.  At least that was the message of the recent meeting of the Animal Agriculture Alliance.  One speaker, Professor Wes Jamison of Palm Beach Atlantic University, opined that animal advocates drape their message in a cloak of religiosity because people are ignorant about [...

Finch Fighting Ring Broken Up

Posted on July 27, 2009
Good grief; who even knew there was finch fighting?  Another day, another gruesome exploitative use of animals in the news… –David Cassuto

Racing ?At? (Not ?To?) the Airport

Posted on July 24, 2009
Today, I learned that county officials would like to install slot machines in Miami International Airport (MIA).  Generally, I disapprove of slot machines; they embody all the bad about gambling (anti-social, no skill involved & you can’t beat the house) and none of the good (skill involved, you can beat the house, and it’s social)...

Sunstein? More on the Inertia Sweepstakes

Posted on July 22, 2009
Yes, there are other things to blog about but the Cass Sunstein nomination saga is both perversely fascinating and important.  Sunstein’s views on animal issues are at best tangential to the position of Head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs...

Sunstein, Chambliss and the Pound of Flesh

Posted on July 21, 2009
In case you were wondering what (among other concessions) Cass Sunstein had to do to move his nomination forward, here’s a little tidbit.  Sunstein wrote Saxby Chambliss a letter, which Chambliss then read into the Congressional Record, in which Sunstein promises to  ?respect? gun rights and ?not take any steps to promote litigation on behalf [...

In Memoriam: Frank McCourt

Posted on July 20, 2009
To my knowledge, Frank McCourt did not spend a lot of time thinking about animal issues.  However, he was the first person who taught me to care about writing and to appreciate the power of language.  He did that as he did everything — with a twinkling eye and a raft of good stories...

AETA?s First Legal Challenge

Posted on July 19, 2009
We knew that the government would eventually invoke the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) and now it has.  Earlier this year, authorities arrested 4 activists for alleged threats and vandalism against research facilities at UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley and charged them under AETA...

If Everyone Were Vegetarian?

Posted on July 17, 2009
We wouldn’t have the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashing into people’s homes. –David Cassuto (is not making this up…)

Wild Horse Protection Bill Makes it Through the House

Posted on July 17, 2009
As usual it wasn’t pretty (the term “sausage-making” seems disturbingly apt), but H.R. 1018, a federal bill to protect wild horses and burros from commercial sale and slaughter and also from wholesale government-sponsored killing, made it through the House...

Sunstein Nomination: The Hold is Lifted

Posted on July 16, 2009
Saxby Chambliss has stepped out of the way.  Confirmation is apparently within reach. –David Cassuto

Sunstein Nomination Inches to a Standstill

Posted on July 15, 2009
It would seem that Senator Chambliss remains worried about his peeps’ potential exposure to lawsuits by animals should Cass Sunstein be confirmed.  He also doesn’t like the fact that Professor Sunstein does not view the 2nd Amendment as a a blanket license to own weapons...

The United States Doesn?t Torture? Animal Testing in the Military

Posted on July 15, 2009
Charles J. Rosciam is a retired captain with the Navy Medical Services Corps ? a combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient.  He and 16 other retired armed forces medical personnel are attempting to convince the Department of Defense (DOD) to stop torturing and killing animals as part of its trauma training program...

Sunstein Nomination Inches Forward

Posted on July 14, 2009
Cass Sunstein will meet with Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) today in an effort to convince him (Chambliss) that Sunstein’s thoughtful and comparatively moderate positions on animal rights and welfare won’t result in him (Chambliss) and his constituents facing lawsuits from pigs and other confined animals...

On Animals, Death & the Media

Posted on July 14, 2009
A Cal-Maine industrial egg facility in Texas caught fire last Thursday.  The facility was damaged but fortunately, no one was hurt.  Oh yeah, and 800,000 hens died. Stephanie, over at Animal Rights – Change.Org, lays bare the media’s indifference to animals...

Obama Backs Bill to Ban Prophylactic Antibiotics

Posted on July 13, 2009
In a potentially promising development, President Obama’s Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs testified in support of a bill that would ban subtherapeutic antibiotic use in animals.  The reason: pumping animals full of antibiotics is bad, bad, bad...

On Dumb Animals and Climate Change

Posted on July 13, 2009
Today, Krugman uses the metaphor of boiled frogs to bring home the reality of collective inaction on climate change.  He is referencing the fact that if you put a frog in cold water and then heat the water, the frog won’t know that it’s being cooked (until it’s too late)...

Food and Environment

Posted on July 12, 2009
I spend a lot of time talking about the ethics of industrial farming as it relates to the treatment of animals.  Now, I want to say a few words about diet, environment and the law.  On average, Americans consume forty-five more pounds of meat per year than they did fifty years ago...

No Standing to Object to Foie Gras

Posted on July 11, 2009
New York is the foie gras capital of the United States.  Several years ago, the Humane Society, among several other complainants, asked the Commissioner of Agriculture to declare foie gras an adulterated food product.  The underlying rationale was that force-feeding ducks causes them to become diseased, as evidenced by their engorged livers...

Canned Hunting of Endangered Species is Illegal

Posted on July 09, 2009
From the Stuff You Probably Thought Was Too Obvious to Have to Sue About Desk: A district court in Washington D.C. has struck down a Bush Era U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service rule that allowed canned hunting of endangered species.  Canned hunting is the shooting of semi-tame animals on fenced  “ranches” (see here for some previous [...

Dorgan?s Proposed Folly ? Elk Hunting in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Posted on July 08, 2009
Today’s NYT has an editorial on a proposed elk hunt in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.  The herd has grown to over 900 animals since 1985, when elk were reintroduced to the region.  Apparently, a herd of that size stresses the ecosystem so Senator Dorgan has proposed a “common sense” solution of allowing [...

Nationwide Dogfighting Crackdown Leads to 26 Arrests

Posted on July 08, 2009
7 states, 400 dogs.  Apparently this was not one large ring.  Just lots of people around the country with vicious, sadistic streaks.  Read all about it here. –David Cassuto

What you can do to Stop the Monkey Business in Puerto Rico

Posted on July 07, 2009
Unfortunately, my hometown of Puerto Rico continues to struggle with cruelty related issues. After the dog killing fiasco that took place in the town of Vega Baja in 2007, one hopes that Puerto Ricans have become more cognizant of these types of issues...

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