Brooks Animal Law Digest - Issue No. 9 (November 18, 2019)

New York-based nonprofit Voters For Animal Rights filed suit last month against D’Artagnan, the largest distributor of foie gras in the United States. The lawsuit alleges that the company engaged in deceptive marketing and advertising by implying that the birds it uses to produce foie gras are treated humanely, when in reality the birds were painfully force-fed, housed in overcrowded facilities in a way that prevented their natural behaviors, and improperly handled.

Food & Water Watch filed suit in federal court claiming that the United States Department of Agriculture has used “obstructionist tactics” in an attempt to avoid answering the organization’s Freedom of Information Act requests related to the agency’s New Swine Inspection System, a program that eliminates maximum slaughter line speeds and reduces government required inspection.

A dairy consumer in Vermont filed suit against Unilever (which has owned Ben & Jerry’s since 2000) alleging that the company has continued to advertise that it uses “happy cows” to make its ice cream and that those cows live on “caring dairies,” despite the fact that most of the milk used in Ben & Jerry’s products is obtained from factory farming dairy operations.

The Humane Society of the United States, the Center for Biological Diversity, Born Free USA, Humane Society International, and Natural Resources Defense Counsel have sent a letter to the Fish and Wildlife Service notifying the agency of their intent to file suit against it for failing to decide whether seven species of pangolin deserve to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act requires a 60 day notice before a lawsuit may be filed.

A federal judge in Washington has granted a temporary restraining order against the Lummi Nation, prohibiting the tribe from taking part in a winter crab fishery. Other tribes challenged the Lummi Nation’s plans to take part in the fish in federal court in October.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed several changes to a previously published proposed rule related to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The new changes involve removing the European Turtle-Dove from species that quality for protection under the MBTA, adding 10 additional species that qualify for protection, and revising a number of common and scientific names to conform to accepted use. The comment period is reopened until December 12, 2019.

The NRCS has announced it intends to adopt the Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project Final Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management. It is accepting comments on this decision until December 12, 2019.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has announced it will prepare an environmental impact statement analyzing alternatives to manage predator damage in Oregon.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced in a policy memo that migrant workers hired for shepherding and herding positions will no longer be allowed back-to-back temporary agricultural visas. This change follows a D.C. Circuit decision that found that the government’s routine approval of visas for herders to do long term work was not aligned with federal immigration law.

The European Food Safety Authority, an independent EU agency, has published a scientific opinion on animal welfare considerations of the slaughter of poultry for food. The agency intends to publish similar documents related to pigs, cows, and other species next year.

In a new article, Meat-Related Cognitive Dissonance: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding how Meat Eaters Reduce Negative Arousal from Eating Animals, Hank Rothgerber proposes a new framework of “meat-related cognitive dissonance” and highlights implications of that framework for those seeking to reduce meat consumption.

A new article, In Vitro Meat: The Normative Power of a Vision in the Innovation and Transformation Process, examines, through interviews with experts and stakeholders, the vision of the innovation of cultured meat.

A new article published in Meat Science examines consumer acceptance of cultured meat products in the German market. The article concludes that Germany is “only moderately prepared” to accept cultured meat into its market.

A new article profiles two instances of the beef industry actively opposing government measures that would link it to greenhouse gas emission and climate change, showing both the industry’s power and its concern with being linked to climate change. 

Dean Foods, after almost a century in business, has filed for bankruptcy after its stock lost 80% this year. The company blames this development on the “accelerated decline of the conventional white milk category.”