News roundup

It's been a busy week - here's some of the stories deserving a full post that slipped through the cracks:

• Duck found with arrow through its body (Ocala, Local 6).
• Police Arrest Ranch Owner on charges of cruelty to animals (Miami, NBC 6).
  
• Turtle nests vandalizes, 100+ eggs stolen (Flagler Beach, 13 News).
• Orlando-man who shot dogs could face changes (Orlando Sentinel).
• Golf course fertilizer suspected in fish kill (Tamarac, UPI).
• Dog shot in face in drive-by shooting (Palm Bay, Local 6).
• Dog-left-to-die case continued until September (Viera, Local 6).

NJ Supreme Court rules in favor of farm animals

MarketWatch reports on today's decision from the New Jersey Supreme Court that struck down the regulations exempting all routine husbandry practices as "humane" and ordered the state agricultural agency to reassess the standards for the treatment of farm animals. According to the article, the court also "held that tail docking could not be considered humane, and the manner in which mutilations without anesthesia including castration, de-beaking and de-toeing could not be considered humane without some specific requirements to prevent pain and suffering."

A pdf copy of the opinion is available from the court's website here.

Wakulla seafood sellers indicted

Wakulla.com reports that seven individuals have been indicted after a two-year investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries service (NOAA), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the United States Attorney’s Office. The charges accuse the individuals illegally catching marine species in Florida, falsifying documents, mislabeling fish, and conspiring to transport a variety of marine fish illegally across state lines. Most of the charges involve alleged violations of the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 3371-3378, which protects both plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for a wide array of violations. For an overview, check out this link at Michigan State University Law School's Animal Legal & Historical Center.

From the article:

“This is one of the most far-reaching undercover operations on the northern Gulf Coast during the past 20 years,” said Capt. Leroy Alderson, FWC regional investigations supervisor. “Laws exist to protect marine resources, but the investigation showed pretty-blatant efforts to bypass those laws for profit.”
. . .
NOAA and FWC investigators say the total commercial value of the fish involved exceeded $200,000.

New ordinance prevents dogs from riding in bed of pick-up trucks

Over the years while driving , I've witnessed several dogs jump to their death from the bed of pick-up trucks. That's why I was glad to see that Walton County has passed a new animal ordinance preventing dogs from riding in open bed vehicles. According to the article at the Walton Sun, dogs now have to be confined in a carrier or restrained by a minimum of two tethers attached to the vehicle and the collar of the animal. The new ordinance also punishes keeping animals in the bed of a pick-up truck when the temperatures are above 90 degrees or below 40 degrees and from keeping animals in the trunk of a vehicle or unattended in a vehicle without proper climate control.

Man accused of throwing kittens from truck

Tampa Bay's 10 reports that a Polk County man has been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly throwing kittens from a truck. According to the article, witnesses reported that the man ran over a kitten and then threw another out the window. Deputies discovered one dead kitten along the road and another kitten was found alive. A third kitten was still missing. The surviving kitten, which is pictured alongside the article, will be placed in a foster care environment.

More on the impact of the bad economy on pets

Local 6 ran a story last week on the number of surrendered pets that are being given up because of economic woes. The "alarming spike" is attributed to people being unable to afford the cost of properly caring for their pets:

"To actually own a dog and to be able to treat it properly, it's very expensive," pet owner Stephanie Bilodeau said. "And with gas prices going up and even milk alone, people can't afford it."The situation is so bad that many animal rescue groups are launching a foster home campaign to find temporary homes for pets no one can afford to keep.The Central Florida Pug Rescue is seeing an alarming increase in owner surrenders, Local 6's Mike Holfeld reported.

Wild Alligator eggs used to stock farms

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is helping support the skin trade by collecting eggs from wild alligators nests, according to an article published last week by the AP. Scientists with the FWC help collect up to 40,000 eggs for 30 farmers, who pay about $12 an egg. The farmers then sell the hides and meat of the alligators. The article notes that "[t]he stress of captivity keeps female gators from laying enough eggs to sustain a farm, so the collections are needed to keep the business going." A similar article at News-press notes that the alligator farming is not sustainable without taking eggs from the wild.

Environmental Groups sue for cleaner water rules

The Associated Press reports that five environmental groups have filed suit against the EPA in a Tallahassee federal court. The suit was brought by the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and the St. Johns Riverkeeper.

A copy of the complaint is available from Earth Justice here. Earth Justice describes the lawsuit as follows:

The Clean Water Act puts pollution limits on lakes and streams to protect their uses for drinking water, shellfish, recreation, and fish and wildlife habitat. Lakes and streams are required to meet pollution concentration limits to protect those uses. However, the current standard used by most states only states "concentrations that cause an imbalance in natural flora or fauna" allows states and the polluters to claim that unnatural bacterial growths, wild uncontrolled algae mats or vegetative growths, or the loss of fish is due to other causes. In fact, they are caused by pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus which fertilize the water so that a panoply of undesirable growths take place. The sources of those pollutants are animal waste, effluent from sewage treatment plants, and fertilizer from farms and to a lesser extent from urban areas. Not having a measurable limit makes enforcement of the phosphorus and nitrogen limits almost impossible. The result has been a growing number of toxic algal outbreaks in lakes and dead zones in estuaries and in the Gulf of Mexico. Drinking water sources are threatened, as are important ecosystems.

Earthjustice is seeking to force the EPA to create effective water quality standards.

The AP article also includes quotes from Earth Justice attorney David Guest:

The plaintiffs hope a favorable ruling would force the EPA to implement standards for every state, most of which have only vague limits on such pollution, said Earthjustice attorney David Guest.

The groups say rain sends the runoff, which includes fertilizers and animal waste, into rivers and lakes, contaminating waterways and nourishing algae blooms that poison the ecosystems.

"This is endemic throughout the United States," Guest said. "When you fertilize the water, it makes it so that only one instrument in the ecological orchestra can play. Where you used to have this vast ecological orchestra, now it's only the algae playing."

More on the suit is available from Naples Daily News & News-Press.

Federal Farm Animal Cruelty Act Proposed

There's a short blurb at the Hartford Courant about the Federal Farm Animal Cruelty Act. The article quotes David Favre as noting that the legislation is a "modest step forward." The language of the legislation would make it a federal offense to kill, mutilate or intentionally inflict pain on a commercially raised food animal "without justification."

Animal Law in Canada is a Hot Topic

The Globe and Mail in Canada ran an article this past week about the emergence of animal law as a "hot topic" in Canadian law schools. The article compares animal law to the environmental law movement in the 1970s and also quotes a Toronto lawyer comparing the idea of animal rights to being "like gay rights were 25 years ago. People sense this is going to be an area of importance in the future." The entire article is worth reading, but it ends with this choice quote:

"That's the excitement, in that a lot of the decisions haven't really been made yet," says Andrew Brighten, a McGill University law student with a clerkship this summer at the California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund. Though he's never considered himself a pet person, Mr. Brighten says he's drawn by the possibilities of animal law. The field appeals to his idealism, too.

"You can really feel good about what you're working on, and that you might be making a real difference," Mr. Brighten says. "Being a lawyer, I suppose, is inherently about representation, and animals are beings who are unable to represent themselves. ... So I think, as a lawyer, it's one of the best jobs you could have."

Pet store owner under investigation

A number of media outlets including WPTV are reporting that the owner of the store where an employee was allegedly abusing animals is under investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The store, Dark Forest Reptiles in Boynton Beach, could be closed or have the owner's permit to sell exotic animals revoked. More stories available at CBS 12 WPEC, Palm Beach Post, and the Sun-Sentinel.

News roundup & newest statistics

First thank you for pushing Florida Animal Law over 40,000 visits since its inception. Second, here's another string of stories from the past few weeks that are worthy of mention, but have escaped having posts of their own:

• New panther protection agreement signed, ready for review (Naples Daily News).
• Man arrested in Titusville netting case (Florida Today).
• Road workers to give eagles' nest wide berth (Bradenton Herald).
• Cockfighting bust in Florida (WCTV).
• Suspect Arrested, Dozens of Roosters Taken After Cops Raid Cockfighting Operation (Fox News).
• Flock of abused macaws to fly to Florida (Daily Progess).
• Three get jail time for killing pet goose (Sun-Sentinel).
• Two Florida men will spend a year in prison for killing goose (FOX News).
  

Wildlife Seller Guilty of Illegal Turtle Sales

Law Fuel reports on the guilty plea by a Hollywood animal seller that was providing illegal undersized turtles. According to the report, authorities seized 7,000 turtles and tortoises during a March raid. The business was also required to pay a $5,000 criminal fine.

Pet store worker charged with animal cruelty

The Orlando Sentinel reports that a pet store worker in Boynton Beach was arrested and charged with animal cruelty over the weekend. According to the police account, the worker chased two teenage customers around the store with a mouse and slammed it into the wall until it stopped moving. From the article: "He also threw the mouse at her and asked the girls whether they wanted to see him break a rabbit's neck, according to his arrest affidavit. The girls became upset and bought the rabbit to prevent it from being killed, according to police reports."

Man accused of killing family cat

The St. Pete Times Breaking News Blog reports that a man has been charged with felony animal cruelty, felony child abuse, and assault and battery. According to the report, authorities say the man strangled the cat in front of his wife and daughters.

Florida cases from Pet-Abuse.com

The folks over at Critter News noted in a recent post that there have been updates and improvements to the website Pet-Abuse.com. If you aren't yet familiar with the site, it is one of the best compilers on the web of articles and information about cases where individuals are charged with cruelty to animals. I get regular updates from their RSS feed. In the past week they've reported on several cases from Florida: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, and Link 4.

Snail Kites disappearing from the Everglades

There have been a few stories in recent days about the dwindling number of snail kites found in the Everglades. The Herald Tribune notes that the snail kite was one of the "founding members of the federal endangered species list in 1967." The causes may be linked to drought causing a drop in the number of apple snails as well as water control measures that have been implemented to try to help protect another endangered bird, the Cape Sable seaside sparrow. The endangered snail kite hawk is nearing extinction. More from CBS4 & UPI.

Florida Bar Journal: Continued Protection of the Bald Eagle After Delisting

I'd previously posted about the recent decision to remove the bald eagle from the endangered species list. The Florida Bar Journal this month has an article on the protections that remain available for the eagles given the delisting. The article notes that despite being removed from the endangered species list, the eagles are still protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It also discusses the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Bald Eagle Management Plan and newly adopted Rule 68A-16.002. The article is definitely worth checking out.