34 results for 'cat:"Animal Cruelty"'.
J. Stevens finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant for shooting and killing his neighbor’s two German Shepherd dogs who were on his property, barking at and chasing deer he raised. The deer were fenced, and the dogs were interacting with the deer on the outside of the fence, so the killings were not protected by a legal defense that permits the killing of dogs in the process of killing or wounding other domestic animals. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: J-S08038-24, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Sentencing, animal Cruelty
J. Mooney finds the trial court properly declined to acquit defendant of second-degree animal neglect involving a mare and her foal. The “state presented evidence that the very young, injured foal was found attempting to nurse from a mare with no milk supply.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Mooney, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A178592, Categories: animal Cruelty
J. Aoyagi finds the circuit court properly affirmed county code infractions that prohibit an individual from owning an animal for five years. “Plaintiff has not identified any permissible review function that has been hindered by the hearing officer’s failure to explain her penalty choice.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Aoyagi, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: A180356, Categories: animal Cruelty
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J. Lasnik grants partial summary judgment to the zoo against the animal law advocacy organization's claim that housing brown bears with cheatgrass “harasses” the bears, which is part of the organization's complaint that the zoo violated the Endangered Species Act by possessing and improperly caring for endangered species. The organization does not identify any evidence that would have someone reasonably conclude that the presence of cheatgrass would disrupt a brown bear's normal behavior patterns if it's in its enclosure, at least beyond the cheatgrass getting stuck in the bear's fur.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lasnik, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 3:18cv6025, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Evidence, animal Cruelty
J. Chapman finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant of felony stealing, but properly convicted him of murder, animal abuse, and armed criminal action. The motor-vehicle stealing conviction did not include the value of the car as an element of the crime, so the offense was not subject to a felony enhancement. Further, the court erred in memorializing the pronounced sentence in the written judgment. Reversed in part.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chapman, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: WD85214, Categories: Murder, Theft, animal Cruelty
J. Young denies Massachusetts agricultural regulators’ motion for summary judgment against the pork producers suing them over legislation intended to improve animal welfare. One provision, which creates an exception for sales made at slaughterhouses within Massachusetts, violates the dormant commerce clause because it would disallow federally inspected facilities outside the commonwealth from shipping their pork to Massachusetts customers, who could buy noncompliant pork on the premises of in-state slaughterhouses.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Young, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv11671, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Commerce, Consumer Law, animal Cruelty
J. Trauger partially grants the state wildlife officers' dismissal motion in this lawsuit brought by a falconer whose birds were seized by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and now asserts claims for unlawful search and seizure, as well as false arrest and malicious prosecution. The case against her was dismissed "in its entirety," and the seized birds were returned, though one of the birds allegedly died while being held. The court now finds that the officers are entitled to qualified immunity as to parts of her Fourth Amendment claim. However, she has adequately alleged that the seizure of all 13 of her birds was "objectively unreasonable" and that no reasonable officer "would have believed that this seizure was authorized or legal." Her equal protection claim also survives, in which she alleges that the law was selectively enforced, and misapplied, "against her because of her gender."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Trauger, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv747, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, animal Cruelty
J. Growcock finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of misdemeanor animal abuse. The evidence is sufficient to find defendant intended to hurt the dog by using a leach as a makeshift collar to "helicopter" the dog around the yard. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Growcock, Filed On: January 26, 2024, Case #: SD37827, Categories: animal Cruelty
J. Kirsch rules in part for the owner of 14 horses in claims contending veterinarians failed to properly care for his thoroughbreds, causing them to lose hundreds of pounds and suffer open sores and severe "rain rot." Since neither party invokes the legal standard for veterinary malpractice, state medical malpractice standards apply, under which the owner sufficiently pleaded failure to diagnose and treat the horses. However, fraud claims should be dismissed since the owner had not paid the bills and since the complaint failed to specify the allegedly fraudulent misrepresentations.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Kirsch , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv6927, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Medical Malpractice, animal Cruelty
J. Rubin grants an animal control officer and a former Humane Society executive director’s motion for summary judgment in civil rights and illegal search and seizure claims stemming from the seizure of a citizen’s dogs and other property. Due to the court’s first preclusion in this replevin action, the animal control officer is entitled to summary judgment on the search and seizure claims. The former executive director was justified in entering the citizen’s property and serving a warrant for seizure.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Rubin, Filed On: November 12, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv443, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, animal Cruelty
J. Egan finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of aggravated cruelty to animals for letting his two pit bulls kill a cat on its owners' front porch because the requisite depravity had been established in testimony recounting past incidents in which defendant allowed his dogs to attack smaller animals, including pets, and a neighbor who said defendant encouraged the cat mauling by walking the dogs to the porch. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Egan, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 110862, Categories: animal Cruelty
J. Ervin-Knott grants the Racing Commission's motion for res judicata on the individuals' challenge to the granting of the exception of lis pendens arising out of the stewards at a racetrack suspending them for animal cruelty. In this case, an earlier petition for writ of mandamus involved the
same parties, transaction and occurrence, and request for relief as the basis of this appeal. When the judgment granting the exception of lis pendens was entered, no appeal was taken within the time limit. Further, both the initial and third mandamus petitions reference the same Commission suspension from October 2019 and request the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the Commission to set their appeal hearing.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ervin-Knott, Filed On: October 24, 2023, Case #: 2023-CA-0170, Categories: Civil Procedure, animal Cruelty, Contract
J. Samour finds defendant's right to a jury trial was not violated, as the recidivism portion of Colorado's animal cruelty criminal statute is not an element of the offense required to be proven to the jury but is, in fact, a sentence enhancement to be proved to the trial court by a preponderance of the evidence. Although it elevates convictions from misdemeanors to felonies, the recidivism portion stands alone from the subsection of the statute that lists elements of animal cruelty and does not radically increase punishment for a defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Supreme Court, Judge: Samour, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: 2023CO50, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Sentencing, animal Cruelty
J. Moor finds that the the trial court improperly dismissed a petition seeking to require a county to release shelter animals slated for euthanasia to animal adoption or rescue organizations upon request. Statute requires counties to release such animals without first making determinations about their behavior or adoptability, but counties have discretion to set their own qualifications for adoption and rescue organizations beyond their 501(c)(3) status. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Moor, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: B318954, Categories: Agriculture, animal Cruelty
J. Hershfang finds that the lower court properly dismissed a criminal complaint of animal cruelty against a pet owner who chose not to have her suffering, terminally ill dog euthanized even though a veterinarian recommended she do so. The pet owner did not subject the dog to harm, according to relevant laws, because failure to intervene when an animal's condition makes euthanasia the most humane choice has so far not been interpreted as animal cruelty. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hershfang, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 22-P-690, Categories: animal Cruelty
J. McDonough denies the plaintiff horse trainer's motion for a preliminary injunction in this case concerning the enforcement of the Horse Protection Act, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture allegedly filed two administrative complaints against him. The horse trainer contends that the USDA's administrative proceedings are unconstitutional, but he fails to establish a likelihood of success on the merits. Additionally, he has not shown that he will suffer irreparable harm.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Tennessee , Judge: McDonough, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv24, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Agriculture, animal Cruelty
J. Seeger mostly denies a group of food companies’ motion to exclude grocers’ testimony from an antitrust trial over egg producers’ alleged scheme to artificially inflate the price of eggs in the U.S. The producers claim that they had fewer eggs to sell domestically in part due to installing larger enclosures for egg-laying hens as part of an animal welfare reform effort, and that grocers themselves urged the producers to install the larger enclosures in response to consumer demand for more humane treatment of farm animals. The food companies claim grocers’ testimony to that effect would be irrelevant and prejudicial, and while the court disagrees generally, it will also rule on the admissibility of any particular deposition on a “line-by-line basis as necessary.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Seeger, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:11cv8808, NOS: Antitrust - Other Suits, Categories: Agriculture, Antitrust, animal Cruelty
J. Johnson answers a certified question in the negative regarding a dispute between an animal rights group and a private zoo in which the animal rights group alleged that the zoo violated state wildlife and animal cruelty laws, and thus created a public nuisance. The question before the court is if a violation of state wildlife laws can establish a claim for public nuisance. The answer here is no, because the state legislature has not made it clear that such violations fall under public nuisance laws. To say otherwise would be to expand the scope of nuisance laws beyond what is put forward by the state legislature.
Court: Washington Supreme Court, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 101264-1, Categories: Civil Procedure, animal Cruelty
J. Fenn finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of animal cruelty after he shot three horses. He raises several alleged errors on appeal, such as that the lower court wrongfully admitted several pieces of evidence and allowed his wife to invoke spousal privilege in front of the jury, but has not shown how any of the alleged mistakes would have changed the outcome of the trial had they taken place differently. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Fenn, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: S-22-0255, Categories: animal Cruelty
J. Celebrezze III finds that the trial court improperly dismissed an animal cruelty indictment against defendant for recording a video of a juvenile repeatedly drowning a cat in a bathtub, encouraging the repeated drownings, and then posting the video on social media. Collateral estoppel does not bar the state from litigating the same issues against defendant as it did against the juvenile, because defendant was not a party to the prior action between the state and the juvenile. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Celebrezze III, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 112050, Categories: animal Cruelty
J. Wilson finds the Board of Immigration Appeals properly denied a Mexican citizen’s application for cancellation of removal. The immigrant entered the U.S. without admission. While serving a sentence for his attendance of an illegal cockfight, he was given notice of removal proceedings. He filed for cancellation, testifying that he did not know cockfighting was illegal. The board properly found him removable as lacking good moral character. The immigrant’s argument as to a five-year period to consider his convictions was not raised before the board and the Fifth Circuit declines to reach it. Dismissed in part. Denied in part.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 21-60391, Categories: Immigration, Due Process, animal Cruelty
J. Lasnik denies the zoo's motion to exclude the animal law advocacy organization's expert, Dr. Valerie Johnson, from testifying in the organization's lawsuit alleging that the zoo violated the Endangered Species Act by possessing and improperly caring for endangered species. Dr. Johnson is qualified to provide her opinion that the care of wolf pups taken from their mothers was inadequate because her prognosis of the wolf pups was based on data and within her expertise as a veterinarian.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lasnik, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 3:18cv6025, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Experts, animal Cruelty
J. Aoyagi finds the trial court properly entered an SPO after a romantic relationship ended. “Even assuming arguendo that the trial court agreed with respondent that petitioner committed fraud, it was intrinsic fraud, not extrinsic fraud, and therefore did not provide a basis for set-aside.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Aoyagi, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: A175899, Categories: animal Cruelty