Brooks Animal Law Digest

Senate Bill 3472, the “Bear Poaching Elimination Act of 2022,” would penalize the interstate or international trade in bear parts and products containing bear parts with up to $25,000 in fines and one year imprisonment. The bill would authorize the Department of the Interior to promulgate rules to carry out its stated purpose of helping conserve international bear populations by reducing poaching and the trade in such parts. The bill was introduced by U.S. Senators John Kennedy and Tammy Duckworth and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

House Resolution 5828, the “Pets Belong with Families Act,” would prohibit public housing agencies from imposing breed restrictions on household pets in public housing. The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Missouri House Bill 1463, the “Protection of Missouri Farms and Private Property Act,” would broadly eliminate judicial standing for individuals or organizations who represent nature, animals, or ecosystems in civil actions. The bill would prevent any plaintiff from bringing a civil action on behalf of a non-human and would not allow any being meeting the definition of “nature” or “ecosystem” to be a plaintiff in its own right in any court in Missouri.

Missouri House Bill 1586 and Senate Bill 1058 seek to overturn and prevent local ordinances that prohibit declawing cats. The bills effectively would repeal local ordinances in the City of St. Louis and in St. Louis County that prohibit declawing by specifying that the Missouri legislature preempts any locality or subdivision from enacting or enforcing restrictions on veterinary practice.

Mississippi Senate Bill 2261, “Buddy’s Law,” would require psychiatric evaluation and treatment for minors who have abused dogs or cats. The parent or guardian of the minor would be responsible for the cost of such evaluation and treatment, and failure or refusal to comply would subject the parent or guardian to contempt of court proceedings. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and would take effect on July 1, 2022.

Mississippi Senate Bill 2328, the “Mississippi Companion Animal Abuser Registry Act,” would require the Mississippi Criminal Information Center (MCIC) to post a publicly-available list and photos of certain animal abuse offenders who are convicted on or after January 1, 2023. Offender names would be maintained on the registry for a decade following conviction or until the offense is expunged from the offender’s criminal record. Offenders who are convicted of a second offense would remain on the registry permanently. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and would take effect January 1, 2023.

Oklahoma House Bill 3281, the “Endangered Ark Foundation Preservation Act,” would broadly exempt the use of “tools” and “tethers” (including bullhooks) on elephants from prosecution for animal cruelty. Endangered Ark Foundation engages in elephant breeding and training for Carson & Barnes Circus, which was shown on undercover video in 2017 striking elephants with bullhooks during circus training. If enacted, the bill would become effective November 1, 2022.

Missouri House Bill 2495, the “Missouri Animal Abuser Registration Act,” would eliminate misdemeanor animal cruelty, elevating all acts of animal abuse to various felony classifications. It also would require the Missouri Highway Patrol to post a publicly accessible list and photos of all individuals convicted of animal abuse offenses on or after January 1, 2023. Animal abuse offenders would remain on the registration for a period of 2-5 years, or until such time as the offense has been expunged from their criminal record. If enacted, the bill would become effective on August 28, 2022.

Hawaii House Bill 1868 would ban the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens. It also would require farm owners or operators to house hens in a way that allows the birds to roam unrestricted and provide enrichments that enable hens to engage in species-specific behaviors, including scratch areas, perches, nest boxes, and dust-bathing areas. The bill does not require hens be provided with outdoor access. The bill further would prohibit businesses from selling eggs or egg products sourced from hens confined in a manner that does not meet or exceed the cage-free housing requirements. If enacted, the new confinement standards would become effective June 30, 2027.

Illinois House Bill 4643 would amend the state’s Animal Welfare Act to reverse existing legislation that prohibits pet stores from selling animals acquired from breeders. Last year, Illinois became the fifth state to ban retail pet sales when Governor J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 1711, which is scheduled to take effect on February 23, 2022. If enacted, House Bill 4643 immediately would allow pet stores to continue, or resume, selling dogs and cats acquired from breeders. The bill has been referred to the House Rules Committee.

Illinois Senate Bill 4043, the “Administration of Antibiotics to Food-Producing Animals Act,” would allow the administration of antibiotics to animals used for food only when deemed medically necessary and prescribed by a licensed veterinarian who has visited the farm operation within the previous 6 months. The Illinois Attorney General would have exclusive enforcement authority with the ability to seek injunctive relief and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation.

Illinois Senate Bill 3678, the “Protection of Dogs and Cats from Unnecessary Testing Act,” would prohibit the use of dogs or cats in toxicological experiments to achieve discovery, approval, registration, or maintenance of a pesticide, food additive, or other chemical substance. The bill provides for the Attorney General or a State Attorney to seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 per day per dog or cat who is used in violation of the prohibition.

The City Council of Houston, Texas unanimously passed a series of animal ordinance updates which impose minimum standards for outdoor confinement of dogs, mandate microchipping for all companion animals to minimize shelter intakes, and notably require pet stores “to sell only dogs and cats sourced from a humane organization or a municipal/county animal shelter.” The city also allocated $1 million for spay and neuter services.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging unreasonable delay in responding to the advocacy group’s 2016 petition requesting the agency to develop procedures for animal relocation pending Animal Welfare Act license termination or revocation proceedings. The group argues that federal law requires the USDA to develop such procedures to prevent animals from being housed in conditions that do not comply with the federal Animal Welfare Act while the agency is pursuing revocation or termination of an exhibitor’s license. The case is pending in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Local prosecutors reportedly have dismissed all charges against an animal rights activist who filmed and released footage of healthy pigs being killed en masse by “ventilation shutdown” which essentially cooked the animals to death with heat and steam generators. The pig production facility was one of many that engaged in such “depopulation” practices when COVID-19 reduced slaughter capacity in 2020. The activist, Matt Johnson, was facing up to eight year in prison for charges that included burglary, electronic eavesdropping, and violating the state’s latest ag-gag law: “food operation trespass.” Johnson is affiliated with the organization Direct Action Everywhere (aka DxE) and reportedly filed an objection to the dismissal, arguing that he should be allowed “to have the ‘right to rescue’ tested in a court of law.” In December 2020, Johnson also appeared on Fox Business posing as the CEO of Smithfield Foods and claiming factory farms were “petri dishes for new diseases.”

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is accepting public comments through February 17, 2022 on the following Endangered Species Act permit applications: 1) Lee Simmons Wildlife Park is seeking a permit to export three cheetahs to a zoo in Japan; 2) the Toledo Zoo is seeking a permit to export ten ring-tailed lemurs to a zoo in Australia; 3) a trophy hunter from Missouri is seeking to import two oryx carcasses from a canned hunt in Mexico; 4) Cherokee Exotic Adventures, a canned hunting ranch in Texas, is seeking captive bred wildlife registration to breed and trade in red lechwe, along with a separate permit to allow them to be killed onsite, over a period of five years; 5) an individual in the Las Vegas area is seeking captive-bred wildlife registration to breed and trade in Madagascar radiated tortoises over a period of five years; 6) Topeka Zoo is seeking a permit to export a Sumatran tiger to a zoo in New Zealand; 7) Virginia Safari Park, a roadside zoo in Virginia, is seeking a permit to import two captive Andean condors from Peru; 8) an individual from California is seeking a permit to import specimens collected from northern tiger cats and Geoffrey’s cats, small wild cats, from Brazil over the next five years; 9) an individual from Ohio is seeking captive-bred wildlife registration to breed and trade in Madagascar radiated tortoises over a period of five years; 10) Capron Park Zoo in Massachusetts is seeking captive-bred wildlife registration to breed and trade in lions, ring-tailed lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, black-and-white lemurs, Japanese cranes, bush-tailed rat-kangaroos, and Rodrigues fruit bats over the next five years; and 11) the University of Florida seeks a permit to export and re-import specimens of endangered species from its collection over the next five years. The standard for permit issuance is a demonstration that the applicant’s proposed purpose enhances the propagation or survival of the species in the wild.

Senate Bill 3472, the “Bear Poaching Elimination Act of 2022,” would penalize the interstate or international trade in bear parts and products containing bear parts with up to $25,000 in fines and one year imprisonment. The bill would authorize the Department of the Interior to promulgate rules to carry out its stated purpose of helping conserve international bear populations by reducing poaching and the trade in such parts. The bill was introduced by U.S. Senators John Kennedy and Tammy Duckworth and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

House Resolution 5828, the “Pets Belong with Families Act,” would prohibit public housing agencies from imposing breed restrictions on household pets in public housing. The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Missouri House Bill 1463, the “Protection of Missouri Farms and Private Property Act,” would broadly eliminate judicial standing for individuals or organizations who represent nature, animals, or ecosystems in civil actions. The bill would prevent any plaintiff from bringing a civil action on behalf of a non-human and would not allow any being meeting the definition of “nature” or “ecosystem” to be a plaintiff in its own right in any court in Missouri.

Missouri House Bill 2204 and Senate Bill 847 would effectively eliminate the authority of animal control officers to confiscate animals, prevent the adoption or disposition of confiscated animals prior to the conclusion of an associated animal cruelty or animal fighting case, and pave the way for abused and neglected animals to be left in the hands of accused abusers pending final disposition of animal-related cases. The bills additionally would prohibit humane law enforcement from sterilizing confiscated animals prior to the conclusion of the underlying criminal case.

Missouri House Bill 1586 and Senate Bill 1058 seek to overturn and prevent local ordinances that prohibit declawing cats. The bills effectively would repeal local ordinances in the City of St. Louis and in St. Louis County that prohibit declawing by specifying that the Missouri legislature preempts any locality or subdivision from enacting or enforcing restrictions on veterinary practice.

Missouri House Bill 2237 would authorize up to two tax credits per year for companion animal adopters equal to the amount of the adoption fee for adoptions beginning January 1, 2023. The bill would limit the total statewide available tax credits to $500,000 per year.

Missouri House Bill 2287 would add animals to the existing statute that provides immunity from civil liability to individuals for “forcible entry into a vehicle for the purpose of removing an unsupervised minor or an animal.” The bill would require that the individual demonstrates a “good faith belief that forcible entry into the vehicle is necessary because the minor or animal is in imminent danger of suffering harm if not immediately removed from the vehicle.” Individuals who render such assistance would be required to call law enforcement immediately and stay with the animal until law enforcement arrives.

Missouri House Bill 2344, the “Pet Protection Act,” would require a warning label on pet food imported from or containing ingredients imported into the United States. The warning would have to specify: “WARNING: Use of this product may cause serious injury to or the death of your pet.” If enacted, the bill would become effective August 28, 2022.

Mississippi Senate Bill 2501 would prohibit the use of dogs for hunting deer. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks and would become effective on July 1, 2022.

Mississippi Senate Bill 2261, “Buddy’s Law,” would require psychiatric evaluation and treatment for minors who have abused dogs or cats. The parent or guardian of the minor would be responsible for the cost of such evaluation and treatment, and failure or refusal to comply would subject the parent or guardian to contempt of court proceedings. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and would take effect on July 1, 2022.

Mississippi Senate Bill 2328, the “Mississippi Companion Animal Abuser Registry Act,” would require the Mississippi Criminal Information Center (MCIC) to post a publicly-available list and photos of certain animal abuse offenders who are convicted on or after January 1, 2023. Offender names would be maintained on the registry for a decade following conviction or until the offense is expunged from the offender’s criminal record. Offenders who are convicted of a second offense would remain on the registry permanently. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and would take effect January 1, 2023.

New Hampshire House Bill 1308 would prohibit the capture, possession, and breeding of hares and rabbits for hunting dog training and field trials. The bill would require that rabbits and hares already captured be returned to the wild or surrendered to a wildlife rehabilitator. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Fish and Game and Marine Resources and would take effect upon enactment.

Oklahoma House Bill 3281, the “Endangered Ark Foundation Preservation Act,” would broadly exempt the use of “tools” and “tethers” (including bullhooks) on elephants from prosecution for animal cruelty. Endangered Ark Foundation engages in elephant breeding and training for Carson & Barnes Circus, which was shown on undercover video in 2017 striking elephants with bullhooks during circus training. If enacted, the bill would become effective November 1, 2022.

Vermont Senate Bill 259 would require the Secretary of Agriculture, Food, and Markets to submit a comprehensive report on animal welfare in Vermont by January 15, 2023, including draft legislation necessary for the state to meet or exceed animal protection laws in other New England states. The bill additionally would create an Animal Welfare Division in the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Markets. It has been referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and would take effect on July 1, 2022.

Missouri House Bill 2495, the “Missouri Animal Abuser Registration Act,” would eliminate misdemeanor animal cruelty, elevating all acts of animal abuse to various felony classifications. It also would require the Missouri Highway Patrol to post a publicly accessible list and photos of all individuals convicted of animal abuse offenses on or after January 1, 2023. Animal abuse offenders would remain on the registration for a period of 2-5 years, or until such time as the offense has been expunged from their criminal record. If enacted, the bill would become effective on August 28, 2022.

Oklahoma Senate Bill 1326 would establish minimum standards for lawful confinement of dogs outside. The bill would prohibit the use of tethers, except for tethers specifically designed for dogs, and would prohibit dogs from being confined outside without safe, secure, and sanitary conditions––including protection from the elements and access to food and clean water. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Public Safety and would take effect on November 1, 2022.

Vermont Senate Bill 268 would amend the state’s right-to-farm law by broadly expanding the exemption of farming operations from public or private nuisance actions. The bill also would mandate courts to require unsuccessful nuisance plaintiffs to pay the costs and expenses incurred by defendant farms or farm operations, including attorney’s fees. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and would take immediate effect if enacted.

Hawaii House Bill 1422 would authorize the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources to issue temporary permits to allow otherwise prohibited acts with or impacting indigenous endangered or threatened species. The permit requirement would not apply where federal Endangered Species Act permits have been issued.

New York Assembly Bill 8905 would require the New York Department of Transportation to check for tags or microchips on animals who are killed on the highway, to store those companion animal remains pending contact with the animals’ owners, and to contact owners of microchipped or tagged pets as soon as possible so they may collect the remains. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Transportation.

Tennessee Senate Bill 1788 and House Bill 1859 would establish minimum standards for humane housing of dogs outside, including adequate space, shade from the sun, bedding, dryness, and ability to retain normal body temperature. If enacted, the bill would take effect on July 1, 2022.

Hawaii House Bill 1868 would ban the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens. It also would require farm owners or operators to house hens in a way that allows the birds to roam unrestricted and provide enrichments that enable hens to engage in species-specific behaviors, including scratch areas, perches, nest boxes, and dust-bathing areas. The bill does not require hens be provided with outdoor access. The bill further would prohibit businesses from selling eggs or egg products sourced from hens confined in a manner that does not meet or exceed the cage-free housing requirements. If enacted, the new confinement standards would become effective June 30, 2027.

Illinois House Bill 4643 would amend the state’s Animal Welfare Act to reverse existing legislation that prohibits pet stores from selling animals acquired from breeders. Last year, Illinois became the fifth state to ban retail pet sales when Governor J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 1711, which is scheduled to take effect on February 23, 2022. If enacted, House Bill 4643 immediately would allow pet stores to continue, or resume, selling dogs and cats acquired from breeders. The bill has been referred to the House Rules Committee.

Illinois Senate Bill 4043, the “Administration of Antibiotics to Food-Producing Animals Act,” would allow the administration of antibiotics to animals used for food only when deemed medically necessary and prescribed by a licensed veterinarian who has visited the farm operation within the previous 6 months. The Illinois Attorney General would have exclusive enforcement authority with the ability to seek injunctive relief and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation.

Illinois Senate Bill 3678, the “Protection of Dogs and Cats from Unnecessary Testing Act,” would prohibit the use of dogs or cats in toxicological experiments to achieve discovery, approval, registration, or maintenance of a pesticide, food additive, or other chemical substance. The bill provides for the Attorney General or a State Attorney to seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 per day per dog or cat who is used in violation of the prohibition.

Mississippi House Bill 1319 directs the state’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks to promulgate rules to further protect hunting, trapping, and fishing rights in the state. The bill also would limit the ability of courts to intervene to limit or restrict hunting, trapping, or fishing activities or practices. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.

South Dakota House Bill 1112 would authorize the use of crossbows by game bird and big game hunters who are over the age of 65 and in possession of a state “senior-hunter crossbow permit.”

Virginia House Bill 1330 would require veterinarians and animal shelters to seek to identify lawful companion animal owners by scanning for microchips immediately upon intake of an animal and to contact the owners as quickly as possible if contact information is discovered. Documentation of scanning must be retained for a period of at least thirty days.

The City Council of Greer, South Carolina voted 4-2 to pass ordinance 48-2021, which provides 20 pages of updates to the city’s animal code. Among the updates are restrictions on the use of tethers for dogs and specifications for humane housing of dogs as well as a prohibition on personal ownership of dangerous and exotic animals as pets.

The City Council of Houston, Texas unanimously passed a series of animal ordinance updates which impose minimum standards for outdoor confinement of dogs, mandate microchipping for all companion animals to minimize shelter intakes, and notably require pet stores “to sell only dogs and cats sourced from a humane organization or a municipal/county animal shelter.” The city also allocated $1 million for spay and neuter services.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging unreasonable delay in responding to the advocacy group’s 2016 petition requesting the agency to develop procedures for animal relocation pending Animal Welfare Act license termination or revocation proceedings. The group argues that federal law requires the USDA to develop such procedures to prevent animals from being housed in conditions that do not comply with the federal Animal Welfare Act while the agency is pursuing revocation or termination of an exhibitor’s license. The case is pending in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Washington Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife’s approval of permit that allowed Cooke Aquaculture to switch from raising Atlantic salmon in the Puget Sound to steelhead trout. The court found that the state agency “evaluated the relevant environmental factors sufficiently to constitute prima facie compliance with” the state’s environmental policy act.

Local prosecutors reportedly have dismissed all charges against an animal rights activist who filmed and released footage of healthy pigs being killed en masse by “ventilation shutdown” which essentially cooked the animals to death with heat and steam generators. The pig production facility was one of many that engaged in such “depopulation” practices when COVID-19 reduced slaughter capacity in 2020. The activist, Matt Johnson, was facing up to eight year in prison for charges that included burglary, electronic eavesdropping, and violating the state’s latest ag-gag law: “food operation trespass.” Johnson is affiliated with the organization Direct Action Everywhere (aka DxE) and reportedly filed an objection to the dismissal, arguing that he should be allowed “to have the ‘right to rescue’ tested in a court of law.” In December 2020, Johnson also appeared on Fox Business posing as the CEO of Smithfield Foods and claiming factory farms were “petri dishes for new diseases.”

The Center for Biological Diversity submitted a petition for rulemaking to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, urging the agency to list the southern population of the bog turtle as either endangered or threatened in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia and to designate critical habitat for the turtles. The bog turtle is North America’s smallest turtle, and its southern population has declined as much as 50% in the past twenty years, with fewer than 2,000 of the thumb-size turtles remaining.

The U.S Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) published notice of its receipt of numerous applications for Endangered Species Act recovery permits to conduct activities to enhance the survival of numerous imperiled species of bats and fish. FWS is accepting public comments on these applications through February 17, 2022.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is accepting public comments through February 17, 2022 on the following Endangered Species Act permit applications: 1) Lee Simmons Wildlife Park is seeking a permit to export three cheetahs to a zoo in Japan; 2) the Toledo Zoo is seeking a permit to export ten ring-tailed lemurs to a zoo in Australia; 3) a trophy hunter from Missouri is seeking to import two oryx carcasses from a canned hunt in Mexico; 4) Cherokee Exotic Adventures, a canned hunting ranch in Texas, is seeking captive bred wildlife registration to breed and trade in red lechwe, along with a separate permit to allow them to be killed onsite, over a period of five years; 5) an individual in the Las Vegas area is seeking captive-bred wildlife registration to breed and trade in Madagascar radiated tortoises over a period of five years; 6) Topeka Zoo is seeking a permit to export a Sumatran tiger to a zoo in New Zealand; 7) Virginia Safari Park, a roadside zoo in Virginia, is seeking a permit to import two captive Andean condors from Peru; 8) an individual from California is seeking a permit to import specimens collected from northern tiger cats and Geoffrey’s cats, small wild cats, from Brazil over the next five years; 9) an individual from Ohio is seeking captive-bred wildlife registration to breed and trade in Madagascar radiated tortoises over a period of five years; 10) Capron Park Zoo in Massachusetts is seeking captive-bred wildlife registration to breed and trade in lions, ring-tailed lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, black-and-white lemurs, Japanese cranes, bush-tailed rat-kangaroos, and Rodrigues fruit bats over the next five years; and 11) the University of Florida seeks a permit to export and re-import specimens of endangered species from its collection over the next five years. The standard for permit issuance is a demonstration that the applicant’s proposed purpose enhances the propagation or survival of the species in the wild.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the availability of an application to amend the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s enhancement of survival permit for the lesser prairie chicken in Oklahoma. FWS is accepting public comments through February 17, 2022.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed prohibiting the use of wire leaders in the Hawaii deep-set longline fishery and requiring the removal of fishing gear from any oceanic whitetip shark caught in all of the region’s domestic longline fisheries in order to increase post-hooking survival. NMFS is accepting public comments through February 18, 2022.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Investigation Agency, Alaska Wildlife Alliance, and Cook Inletkeeper submitted a petition for rulemaking to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), urging the federal agency to stop issuing permits for oil companies to harm and kill Cook Inlet beluga whales and to initiate associated rulemaking to better protect the endangered cetaceans. Petitioners cite the fact that the Cook Inlet beluga whale population has declined more than 75% since 1970 and scientists estimate there are only 279 individuals remaining. The groups argue that NMFS must act before the population drops to 200 individuals, when it may prove too late to recover the species.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published notice of its receipt of an application submitted by the Sonoma County Water Agency (“Agency”) for a permit that would authorize the incidental harm and harassment of harbor seals, California sea lions, and northern elephant seals during the course of Russian River estuary management by the Agency between 2022 and 2027. NMFS is accepting public comments on the permit application through February 22, 2022.