Quinn uses dog show stop to hammer Brady on bill

Not long after Republican state senator Bill Brady introduced legislation that would allow Illinois to resume the use of gas chambers to euthanize multiple pets at a time, Illinois' Democratic governor Quinn (only somewhat less embattled than his completely disgraced predecessor, Rod Blagojevich) turned a stop at a Chicago dog show into an opportunity to completely bash Brady for the measure.

Read more in this Sun-Times article by Abdon Pollasch.

Are "Vets Getting Away With Murder"?

Although the laws of the land concerning veterinary malpractice are well-behind the times, at least pet owners are starting to push for changes. When veterinarians make mistakes on animals, the sentiment has been that "mistakes happen". In human health care, mistakes should never occur. Doctors are punished severely from their professional boards as well as through law suits. Sadly, animals do not receive the same type of treatment.

A vet in Maryland, Marc S. Katz, allowed his son, who was not a licensed vet technician, to administer insulin to a diabetic cat. The son overdosed the insulin, leaving the cat with severe brain damage and blindness. What was Katz's professional reprimand? Only a $250 fine, a 30-day suspension of his license, which was stayed, and a 6-month probation.

Katz is not the only negligent vet that has gotten away with a slap on the wrist. Greg Munson of Texas created a website, www.VetsFromHell.net that displays stories of pet owners who have been hurt by the negligent acts of their vets. Munson created this website because he believes that "vets in this country literally get away with murder."

Read the full article at MSNBC.

Animal Abusers May Get Registered in California

The California State Legislature has taken up a bill that would require animal abusers to be registered. Florez, a democrat and Chairman of the Food and Agriculture Committee, pushed the bill for the sake of those who "have animals and want to take care of them."

Florez's bill would require any person convicted of a felony involving animal cruelty to register with the police. In the registration, the convicted felon would be required to disclose personal information, including a personal address and a picture. The information would be retained on a website along with information on the offense.

For more information please see the article at The New York Times.

Lawyers for Animals? Up for a Vote in Switzerland

They may not be meowing, barking or mooing their way through depositions anytime soon, but if Switzerland's animal-rights activists get their way, domestic creatures may be given the constitutional right to be represented by (human) lawyers in court.

Read more about the March 7th initiative vote in this Time article by Helena Bachmann.

Thanks to colleague University of Illinois Prof. A. Bryan Endres for the heads-up on this one!

The many faces of vivisection

Came across this English-language version of a South Korean newspaper article during a general web search for content this morning. Shudder.

Wal-Mart: Private Label Eggs All Cage-Free

Congrats to HSUS for persuading another mega-corporate institution to go cage-free for its egg sales! Read more in this press release.

ABA Update

This from Joan Schaffner, chair of the ABA/TIPS animal law committee:

1) The ABA House of Delegates has approved the Model Act Governing Standards for the Care and Disposition of Disaster Animals. (Yeah! Finally! This means that the ABA will now recommend it to the states. Kudos to cmte founder Barbara Gislason, as well as Jim Carr, David Favre, and about a dozen or more other ABA members who were also involved in this effort.)

2) The history of the ABA/TIPS animal law committee is now available online - thanks to Mariann McDermott. Check it out at: http://www.abanet.org/tips/animal/history/history3.html.

Ben Stein does it (again)!

Kudos to CBS commentator Ben Stein, who - once again - took the opportunity during his Sunday Morning editorial on love this Valentine's Day to reflect on one thing he clearly feels strongly about: "Probably the very best advice I could give give you is to adopt a dog"

He specifically admonished viewers to go to a shelter to get a dog (way to go, Mr. Stein!) and while musing that he could not predict what the stock market will do next year or whether Republicans will regain control of Congress, he had no doubt about this:

"I do know that the smartest thing you could do right this second, for the rest of your life, is to go to a shelter and get a dog. Do it and you'll never be lonely again."

Here's a link to this week's CBS Sunday Morning, though not sure they post all segments online...

And Happy Valentine's Day one and all!

Happy Chinese New Year!

and best wishes to everyone for the the Year of the Tiger!

Law Ed Round-up

Looks like the Georgia State Bar Association has added an animal law section - congrats and good luck!

And down under, Australia's Southern Cross University has announced plans to develop that country's first animal law class available by distance education. (Not sure, but I think that's Aussie-speak for an online class. If I'm wrong, please let me know.)

Indiana Laws Get Strict

The Indiana state legislature has decided to toughen its stance with animal protection laws. House Bill 1258, passed unanimously, made it a felony to participate or attend in a dogfight and also requires pet store owners to be transparent on the background of the animals.

The first part of the legislation requires pet store owners to list on the cage of the dog or cat the name of the breeder, the breeder's federal license number, the dog or cat's medical history, business addresses for breeders or brokers and how many litters the breeding facility had produced in the previous year. This information should help educate pet owners on where the animals have been bred.

The second part of the legislation makes enforcement against dogfights a bit easier. It is now a felony for any person to be in attendance of a dogfight, even if they are there without an animal. One dog rescuer commented "I saw dogs with missing eyes, ears, parts of their faces, partial limbs, legs removed and faces scarred beyond recognition, that a human being could inflict this kind of pain and needless suffering on an animal solely for the purpose of entertainment and financial gain is incomprehensible."

Read the full article at IndyStar.

Toledo's "Vicious Dogs" Law Ruled Unconstitutional

Judge Michael Goulding of the Toledo Municipal Court has ruled several aspects of the city's vicious dogs law to be unconstitutional. He cited specifically to the ban on owning more than one pit bull and having to have the dogs muzzled. Judge Goulding also found the statute's ban on it bull mixes to be unconstitutional.

Goulding stated in his opinion that "a more uniform, practical, and humane method of regulating dogs, which both preserves the safety of the public and focuses on the dangers and misdeeds of irresponsible dog owners, would seem preferable to the status quo."

Read more at ToledoBlade