Brooks Law Digest: Consumer Protection

The Eleventh Circuit has rejected a RICO challenge to animal retailer Petland’s alleged fraud scheme.

Organic Consumers Association, represented by Richman Law Group, has filed suit against D’Artagnan, alleging that the company’s claims regarding the ducks used in its products are false and misleading.

Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1267 proposes to establish the Dog Law and Puppy Lemon Law Commission, which would be tasked with making recommendations for the expansion of laws related to animal cruelty, dangerous dogs, dog sheltering, dog transportation, pain management in companion animals, and other related issues.

Organic Consumers Association, represented by Richman Law Group, has filed suit against fish distributors Mowi Ducktrap and Mowi USA, alleging that the company’s claims that the fish used in their products are “all natural” and a product of Maine are deceptive.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has petitioned the Harris County District Court for a restraining order that would prevent Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the country’s largest egg producer, from selling eggs at a rate that has more than tripled since the Texas Governor’s call for people to stay at home in the state.

New Jersey Senate Bill 2223, if enacted, would prohibit pet dealers who sell at least 15 animals per year from obtaining those animals from breeders who are not licensed and in compliance with animal welfare laws. The bill would also require the dealers to submit an annual report including the name and identifying information of the breeders that the dealer obtained animals from that year.

H.R. 5715, or the Petfax Act of 2020, would require any commercial entity selling cats or dogs to provide the purchaser of the animal with a report detailing the animal’s background. The report would be required to disclose the name of the dealer who raised the animal, the number of other animals that dealer had raised in the last prior years, a listing of any Animal Welfare Act violations that dealer had committed in the prior two years, the animal’s date of birth, and the date of their most recent examination by a licensed veterinarian. The legislation would exclude not-for-profit animal shelters from these requirements.

The D.C. Superior Court issued an Order that suggests that the non-profit and public interest organization standing provisions of the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Laws should be more limited.