Brooks Animal Law Digest

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law that bans the sale of new items made from the fur of undomesticated animals (the ban would not apply to antique items and other agricultural products, like leather and sheepskin).

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law that prohibits sponsoring, conducting, or operating a circus that uses any animals other than a dog, cat, or horse in the state.

The North American Meat Institute, a meat industry trade association, has filed suit in district court in California challenging the state’s implementation of Prop 12, a ballot initiative that imposed additional requirements regarding the confinement of animals used in agriculture, including a ban on the sale of products produced not in accordance with the legislation. Plaintiffs claim that the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause.

A judge in Missouri has declined to issue a preliminary injunction to block a Missouri law that defines what food products may be labeled as “meat” from going into effect before the case is decided. Plaintiffs American Civil Liberties Union, the Good Food Institute, and Turtle Island Foods have appealed the decision.

The United Food and Workers Commercial Union (UFWC) has filed suit against the United States Department of Agriculture over its newest rule removing maximum line speeds for pig slaughter facilities. The lawsuit claims that the rule jeopardizes consumer health and worker safety.

A federal judge has said that the aesthetic claims alleged in the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s suit against Farmers’ Inn, a roadside zoo in Pennsylvania, are sufficient to sustain the public nuisance claim.

A federal judge has granted former chicken producers’ request that related cases alleging chicken companies fixed employee wages be consolidated. The suits have been brought under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

A federal judge has ruled that plaintiffs have standing sufficient to challenge the Fish and Wildlife Service’s and Forest Service’s failure to comply with the Endangered Species Act when approving a Montana mine.

The Fish and Wildlife Service announced that they have found that twelve species are not warranted for listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The affected species include the Berry Cave salamander, cobblestone tiger beetle, Florida clamshell orchid, longhead darter, Ocala vetch, Panamint alligator lizard, Peaks of Otter salamander, redlips darter, Scott riffle beetle, and southern hognose snake.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is inviting comments on the continuing collection of information of when a nautical vessel needs to travel at an otherwise prohibited speed to maintain safe maneuverability. The speed restriction is in place to reduce collisions with right whales.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has proposed designating specific marine areas off the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska as critical habitats under the Endangered Species Act for several populations of humpback whales. The comment period closes December 9.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is requesting comments on a draft outline for a Work Plan for a federal Aquaculture Regulatory Task Force. The comment period closes November 8.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a rule that removes the Kirtland’s Warbler, a small songbird, from the list of species protected by the Endangered Species Act as of November 8.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has released a list of species it considers candidates to be listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It is accepting comments on these species at any time.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service is extending the deadline for submitting comments on a petition it received from the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Consumer Reports that would prohibit labeling products that have been processed using non-synthetic nitrites or nitrates as nitrite or nitrate free. Comments are now due by December 12.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that it will begin a review to determine whether the bone cave harvestman, a spider native to a few counties in Texas, should be delisted from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is considering comments on an application by Carnival for incidental takes under the Endangered Species Act as it constructs new ship facilities in California. The comment period is open until November 12.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture has finalized a rule originally proposed in May that updates standards related to sanitization and disease control.

A new article in Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions explores the lack of attention by sustainability literature on animal farming and applies a transition framework to an in-depth case study of plant-based eating in the Netherlands. The article concludes that consumers and informal institutions are the drivers of this change.

A new book by Samantha King, Messy Eating : Conversations on Animals as Food, contains interviews with thirteen scholars about the connection between their work and consuming animals as food.