Animal Legal Defense Fund : Current Cases

Current Cases

	*Akiva v. Chien et Chat, Inc.* The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed suit against Barkworks, a Southern California pet store chain, claiming the stores repeatedly engage in fraud and false advertising in an effort to conceal from customers that they source their puppies from abusive puppy mills.
	*ALDF v. Barham* ALDF filed a lawsuit against the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and its secretary Robert Barham, arguing that he violated state law in granting a permit allowing Michael Sandlin to exhibit a male Siberian-Bengal tiger named Tony at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La.
	*ALDF v. Carter* ALDF and two other animal rights groups filed a lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and its director Robert Carter Jr. over the Department's decision to waive state permit requirements for a controversial Greene County "penning" facility. In penning operations, wild foxes and coyotes are trapped so that packs of hunting dogs can be set loose on them in caged enclosures.
	ALDF v. Hudson Valley Foie Gras Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the largest foie gras producer in the nation, violated the federal Lanham Act and California’s False Advertising and Unfair Competition Laws by claiming to be “the Humane Choice” while using inhumane practices. The lawsuit marks the first time a humane competitor has used false advertising laws in a federal case alongside an animal protection group.
	ALDF v. Lt Napa Partners ALDF filed a lawsuit against Napa-based La Toque restaurant for violating the state ban on selling and distributing force-fed foie gras products. ALDF's undercover investigations reveal that despite the state ban, La Toque routinely sells foie gras products derived from force-feeding birds to enlarge the birds' liver ("foie gras").
	*ALDF v. New York Department of Agriculture and Markets* Animal Legal Defense Fund is suing the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets for violating state law. In addition to overwhelming evidence of animal cruelty issues, force-feeding damages the livers of the birds so badly it induces a disease known as hepatic lipidosis. By not declaring that foie gras comes from diseased animals, the Department is putting consumer health at risk.
	ALDF v. University of Minnesota ALDF is suing the University of Minnesota for violating the state’s open meeting and open record laws. Minnesota’s Open Meetings Law requires all meetings of any committee of a public body to be open to the public, but the University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) has repeatedly denied ALDF’s request for public access to its meetings regarding the treatment of animals used in the University’s laboratories.
	ALDF v. USDA ALDF, PETA, the Orca Network, and private citizens filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that challenges its decision to renew the Seaquarium's federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) license, which allows Lolita the orca to remain captive.
	Compassion Over Killing v. FDA ALDF and Compassion Over Killing filed a complaint in a federal district court in Oakland against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and Agriculture Marketing Service, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for failing to regulate animal welfare labeling on egg cartons.
	ALDF v. FDA The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit this week asking a federal court to compel the Food and Drug Administration to produce inspection reports of factory egg farms without censoring important information about the hen population and living conditions.
	*ALDF v. Vilsack* ALDF, three other animal rights groups, and several individual plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violating the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act by allowing adulterated poultry-in the form of foie gras-to be sold to consumers.
	*Animal Place v. Cheung* Represented by ALDF, three non-profit animal sanctuaries filed a complaint in the Stanislaus County Superior Court, seeking justice for 50,000 hens who were abandoned in February 2012 by the owners of A&L Poultry, a Turlock egg production facility.
	*Center for Food Safety v. Lakey* ALDF is representing three plaintiffs in an effort to stop the abuses to chickens and the human health risks posed by the inhumane practices at the Waelder, Texas egg production facility of Cal-Maine Foods, the nation's largest egg producer.
	Glover v. Mahrt ALDF filed a class-action lawsuit against California egg producers Judy’s Family Farm Organic Eggs, owned by Petaluma Egg Farm, for false advertising.
	*Motion to Intervene in Suit Attempting to Overturn Foie Gras Ban* In 2012 foie gras industry plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, which would have suspended the foie gras ban for the duration of the litigation. The trial court denied the injunction, preserving the ban. Plaintiffs then appealed the trial court’s decision to deny the preliminary injunction, freezing the litigation at the trial level while this issue is resolved. Plaintiffs and State defendants have already submitted their briefs to the 9^th Circuit. ALDF, along with a coalition of other animal protection organizations, is submitting an amicus curiae brief explaining why the trial court correctly denied the preliminary injunction. We are confident that the 9^th Circuit will uphold the trial court’s decision on preliminary injunction, and keep the foie gras ban in effect while this litigation proceeds.
	Native Songbird Care and Conservation v. LaHood Conservation and animal protection groups filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration for causing and allowing the deaths of migratory cliff swallows nesting under bridges at a highway widening project in Petaluma, California.
	Palin v. Cuesta ALDF represents Hillsborough County Florida residents suing to stop backyard slaughter, using landmark Florida "public nuisance" lawsuit.
	*Ray v. USDA* The Animal Legal Defense Fund, PETA, and two residents of Cumberland County, North Carolina appalled at the living conditions that they've witnessed for a bear named Ben and other animals at Jambbas Ranch Tours in Fayetteville filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture challenging its decision to renew Jambbas' federal Animal Welfare Act license.
	*Sebek, Farnam v. the City of Seattle* Outraged citizens represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle to stop the City's unlawful use of taxpayer dollars to support the Woodland Park Zoo's reckless and illegally cruel treatment of its elephants.
	Stop Animal Exploitation Now v. Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. ALDF filed a complaint on behalf of Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) against Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., in the first-ever lawsuit against an animal research lab under California's state cruelty law and Unfair Competition Law.

Other Cases and Administrative Matters

	Comments on Closing "Online Sale" Loophole for Pet Breeders The Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted a comment supporting a proposed APHIS regulation to close the online sale loophole for puppy mills, but called on the agency to go further by enacting tougher enforcement guidelines.
	Comments on Ending Research on Captive Chimpanzees The Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health urging it to adopt a proposal to severely restrict research on captive chimpanzees by defunding chimpanzee research and retiring chimpanzees to the federal sanctuary system. ALDF urged the NIH to go even further by banning all federal support for chimpanzee research on the grounds that it is both ineffective and unethical.
	Comments on Extending Endangered Status to Captive Chimpanzees The Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted comments urging the Fish and Wildlife Service to extend endangered status to captive chimpanzees, along with all of the meaningful protections such a listing entails.
	Comments on the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare's Proposed Position Statements on the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals The Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted comments urging the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare to hold animal researchers to specific, quantifiable standards for housing rats, mice, and rabbits, and to refuse to allow researchers to house animals in substandard conditions to save on costs.
	Comments on USDA's Proposed Modifications to School Meal Programs The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed comments on the USDA's proposed modifications to the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, urging the department to put a higher priority on providing children with nutritious, plant-based foods in school meals.
	Complaint to FTC Regarding Tyson Foods False Advertising Claims ALDF filed a complaint against Tyson Foods, Inc. for violating the Federal Trade Commission Act that calls for fair business practices. ALDF's complaint asks the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and put an end to deceptive marketing tactics used by Tyson.
	Petition to National Marine Fisheries Service to Free Lolita PETA and ALDF submitted a petition to the NMFS calling for Lolita to be listed as endangered, along with her free-living family, the Pacific Northwest’s Southern Resident orcas.
	Petition to Food & Drug Administration to Regulate Ractopamine Use The Center for Food Safety and ALDF filed a petition with the FDA calling for the immediate reduction in the allowable levels of ractopamine, the controversial animal feed additive widely used in industrial factory farms that raises significant food safety and animal welfare concerns for the U.S. meat industry.
	Petitions Federal Trade Commission to Investigate Deceptive Claims of Top Three Tuna Suppliers ALDF petitions the FTC to take action against Bumble Bee Foods, Chicken of the Sea, and StarKist for making false claims to consumers about “dolphin-safety” and sustainability.
	Petition to Require Mandatory Labeling of Egg Cartons The Animal Legal Defense Fund and Compassion Over Killing filed a petition calling upon the Food and Drug Administration to mandate the full disclosure of production methods—including the identification of "eggs from caged hens"—on all egg cartons sold within the United States.
	Petition to USDA to Declare Foie Gras Unfit for Human Consumption The Animal Legal Defense Fund along with several other groups and individuals filed a legal petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service calling on the agency to issue new regulations declaring foie gras a diseased product that is unfit for human food under the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act.
	Petition to USDA to Require Foie Gras be Labeled as Product of a Diseased Animal The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a legal petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, urging that foie gras-the "fatty liver" of a force-fed duck or goose-bear a consumer warning label stating "NOTICE: Foie gras products are derived from diseased birds."
	*Cases In Which ALDF Has Filed An Amicus Curiae* Brief** An amicus curiae brief permits a non-party to offer its view of a case, typically premised on either its interest in the outcome or its expertise in the field. The Animal Legal Defense Fund submits amicus briefs in a wide variety of cases, working to advance the interests of animals by urging courts to recognize their own interests and their special value to humans.

Recent ALDF Victories

	In February, the Oregon Zoo paid $400,000 to buy its new baby elephant Lily and her father, Tusko. A loan breeding agreement between the Zoo and notorious abuser Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT) had come to light, showing that both Lily and Tusko were legally owned by HTWT. ALDF joined in the massive public outcry by writing two letters to the Zoo’s governing entity, calling for a voided breeding agreement. Two days after ALDF’s second letter, the Zoo and HTWT performed a sale that removed any possibility of the elephants transferring to HTWT.
	Judge Grants Ben The Bear Permanent Sanctuary In August, a North Carolina judge granted Ben the Bear permanent sanctuary at the Performing Animal Welfare Society as a result of a lawsuit against Jambbas Ranch—ALDF attorneys worked to represent the plaintiffs. Ben had languished for years on cement in a chain-link kennel-- he now has the chance to live like a bear should, with plenty of space to roam, play, and forage in his new habitat.
	State Says No More Snapperfest The Indiana Department of Natural Resources announced in August that the abuse of turtles at the annual Ohio County event known as “Snapperfest,” where “contestants” demonstrate their prowess by pulling the heads of live turtles far outside of their shells, would not take place this summer. The announcement followed an ALDF petition for rulemaking to the state which argued that a misinterpretation of Indiana law was allowing for illegal cruelty at the event.
	Great News in Oregon: Each Animal Counts! In a groundbreaking decision for animal law, an Oregon appeals court ruled in favor of the state’s argument, supported by an ALDF amicus brief, that individual animals can be considered “victims” of acts of cruelty and neglect. The decision overturned the trial court’s ruling that the state was the lone “victim” in a case where a defendant was convicted of 20 separate counts of animal neglect involving 20 individual horses.
	Settlement In Palm Springs Lawsuit Will Mean Improvements In Conditions For Homeless Animals In June, ALDF and the Palm Springs Animal Shelter settled a lawsuit alleging extremely high euthanasia rates of adoptable animals, lack of veterinary care, and the misuse of the term, "no-kill" at the shelter. This settlement will bring the shelter up to an acceptable standard, making accurate reporting, quality care, and accountability a priority.
	Petition to Require Airlines to Report Deaths of Animals Shipped as "Cargo" In response to an ALDF petition, the Department of Transportation is taking action to require more accurate reporting of the real dangers of shipping animals in commercial airline cargo holds.
	*Compassion Over Killing v. Cal-Cruz Hatcheries* Represented by ALDF attorneys, Compassion Over Killing filed a complaint in the California Superior Court in Santa Cruz to stop alleged ongoing animal abuse at Cal-Cruz Hatcheries, Inc., a Santa Cruz chicken hatchery that handles millions of chickens per year.
	*Smith v. Clay County* An outraged citizen represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against Clay County, Kentucky, taking the county to task for extreme neglect of animals at the county's shelter, neglect that violated Kentucky's Humane Shelter Law.
	Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Welfare Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Turtle Island Restoration Network v. British Petroleum America, Inc., British Petroleum Exploration & Production and British Petroleum PLC The Animal Legal Defense Fund, along with the Animal Welfare Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Turtle Island Restoration Network achieved a win for endangered turtles in federal court in the lawsuit against British Petroleum and the U.S. Coast Guard for burning critically endangered sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, in violation of the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws.
	*United States Equine Rescue League v. Collier* Represented by ALDF, the United States Equine Rescue League (USERL) filed a complaint in Indiana against Robert and Rebecca Collier for the cost for caring for eight severely neglected horses. On October 12, 2010, full and permanent custody of the once-neglected horses was granted to USERL, which has been fostering and rehabilitating the horses since their rescue.
	*Kasey v. Estill County, Penrod v. Robertson County* Backed by ALDF attorneys, Kentucky citizens filed concurrent lawsuits in Estill and Robertson Counties, taking their local governments to task for failing to provide basic, humane conditions for homeless dogs and cats, as mandated by Kentucky's Humane Shelter Law.
	*ALDF v. Keating* The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed suit against three North Carolina residents for severely neglecting eight horses whom they starved - in one case, literally to death - and deprived of all veterinary care.
	*ALDF v. CorcPork* The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed suit to put an end to the illegal confinement of thousands of pregnant and nursing sows at California's CorcPork, Inc.
	*ALDF v. Conyers* A swift settlement in October 2007 protected severely neglected toy poodles and birds seized from AKC champion breeder Janie Conyers.
	*ALDF v. Woodley* When the Animal Legal Defense Fund heard about 325 dogs living in deplorable conditions in Sanford, North Carolina,we launched an investigation, then filed suit against Barbara and Robert Woodley.
	*ALDF v. Yost* The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed suit against Hollywood chimpanzee "trainer" Sid "Ranger Rick" Yost for violating the Endangered Species Act and the California anti-cruelty statute by subjecting the chimpanzees in his possession to extreme pain and suffering. Despite shocking eyewitness testimony about the meetings, Yost denied the allegations.

Other Cases and Administrative Matters

Recent ALDF Victories

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