The Islamabad High Court in Pakistan has ruled that an elephant held in solitary captivity must be released to a sanctuary and affirmed that animals have “legal rights.”
Islamabad High Court Holds That Nonhuman Animals Have Legal Rights
PETA Files Suit Against Tri-State Zoological Park
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has filed suit against Tri-State Zoological Park, alleging that the roadside zoo’s neglect of animals violates federal and state law and constitutes a public nuisance.
APHIS Issues Final AWA Licensing Provisions
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule detailing changes to the Animal Welfare Act licensing requirements, including automatic termination of a license after three years and requiring that dogs have constant access to potable water. The rule will take effect on November 9, 2020.
FWS Considers Endangered Species Import and Breeding Permits
The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it is considering several applications for Endangered Species Act permits. The applications include requests to import a snow leopard to John Ball Zoo in Michigan and to captive breed Arabian oryx and Eld’s deer at a game ranch in Texas. The agency is accepting comments on the applications until May 13, 2020.
Virginia Outlaws Direct Contact with Dangerous Captive Animals
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has signed into law Senate Bill 1030, which will ban exhibits that allow direct contact between members of the public and dangerous captive animals (defined as any bear, cougar, jaguar, leopard, lion, nonhuman primate, tiger, or any hybrid of such animals). The law will take effect July 1, 2021.
Court Dismisses Challenge to NMFS Decision on Disclosure of Necropsy on Standing
A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by several animal rights advocates and individuals that challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service’s decision not to enforce a permit condition requiring SeaWorld to release the necropsy report of an orca whale named Tilikum. The court found that the plaintiffs lacked Article III standing because they “failed to allege a cognizable informational injury.”
Joe Exotic Suffers Losses in Civil Suit
A federal judge has recommended that Tiger King’s Joe Exotic’s civil suit against the federal government alleging false arrest be dismissed as frivolous.
Mexico Takes Step Closer to Ban Cosmetic Animal Testing
Last month, the Mexican Senate passed a bill that would outlaw the manufacture, marketing, or sale of cosmetic products tested on animals. The lower house in the Mexican legislature will consider the bill next.
FWS Receives ESA Permit Applications for Aquariums to Collect Sea Turtles
The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it has received permit applications under the Endangered Species Act to capture, wound, collect, and euthanize several species of sea turtles from multiple aquariums, including the National Aquarium, the Virginia Aquarium, and the New England Aquarium.
PETA Prevails in Effort to Relocate Tigers from Dade City’s Wild Things to Sanctuary
A federal judge in Florida has ordered Dade City’s Wild Things, a roadside zoo, to allow for PETA to relocate all tigers in the zoo’s possession to qualified animal sanctuaries. The order, finding that the zoo and zoo’s owners violated the Endangered Species Act, also banned defendants from owning or possessing tigers.