Attorney General McCollum, HSUS file briefs urging Supreme Court to find that depictions of animal cruetly are not free speech

Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum filed an amicus brief today urging the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision from last year that found that depictions of animal cruelty are protected speech. The lower court struck down 18 U.S.C. § 48, which prohibited the commercial distribution of such depictions except for those with serious religious, political, scientific, educational, journalistic, historical, or artistic value.

Florida took the lead on filing on behalf of the states, and notably twenty five other states joined Florida's brief. The Attorney General is quoted in the press release:

"Animal fighting is a serious crime, violent and heinous in nature, and depictions of that and other extreme animal cruelty should indeed be prohibited under the federal law. I supported this law in Congress and I am honored to have the chance to do so again as Florida's Attorney General."

The Humane Society of the United States also filed an amicus brief today and both briefs are available at the Attorney General's website as pdf downloads. The AG's brief on behalf of Florida and the other states is available here. HSUS's brief is available here. I highly recommend reading both in their entirety, but I was particularly glad to see that the AG's brief focused on the difficulty of enforcing animal cruelty laws across state lines and the gap that the federal law was specifically designed to fill.

As frequent readers of this blog may remember, the law was originally enacted to stem the proliferation of "crush" videos, or fetish videos where small animals would be killed by women wearing high heel shoes. At the time I questioned the Third Circuit's ruling and hopefully the high court will now take a critical look at the issue. Aside from the need to prevent the suffering of animals, the law already contained exceptions protecting legitimate uses.

Previous posts on the Stevens case:

• Supreme Court to hear case on whether the First Amendment protects depictions of animal cruelty.
  
• Supreme Court asked to hear case on depictions of animal cruelty.
  
• 3rd Circuit Strikes down law preventing online depictions of animal cruelty.
  

Former Wizard of Claws dogs adopted

I'd posted previously about the lawsuit Wizard of Claws, a Pembroke Pines pet store accused of selling sick puppies. After a recent ruling and a declaration of bankruptcy, the store is now closed and all the remaining dogs have been removed. In fact, CBS 4 has an interesting article about the hundreds of people who showed up to adopt dogs that came from the store. According to the article, an anonymous donor purchased all the remaining dogs and donated them to the Humane Society.

Suspect arrested in South Florida cat killings

Reuters is reporting that police have arrested a suspect in the case involving a string of cat killings in South Florida. He is charged 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary.

Update: Just News has a more detailed article at this link, including the suspect's mugshot and a link to previous stories about the killings. The article also indicates that there may have been additional warrants issued.

Salon's Interview with the makers of Food, Inc.

Salon has a video interview with Michael Pollan and Robert Kenner about the new documentary Food, Inc., which has been billed as an unflattering look inside America's corporate controlled food industry. In addition to Pollan, the movie also features interviews with Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation.

2009 Endangered Species Bulletin

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its first Endangered Species Bulletin of 2009 available here as a pdf. It features an article covering the thirty-five year history of the Endangered Species Act.

Tampa animal law seminar - June 20th

Jennifer Dietz, Esq., and Professor of Law will be presenting a seminar on dangerous food, toys, and other animal related items at the SPCA Animal Law Seminar Saturday June 20th from 2 P.M. until 4 P.M. See www.spcatampabay.org for additional information.

More cats killed in South Florida

Police are investigating the mutilation of two more cats in Cutler Bay, Florida, according to the Miami Herald. The cats were discovered this weekend and are a continuation of a two-month streak of killings. The Sun-Sentinel reports that the reward for information leading to the arrest of the individual or individuals responsible now tops $12,500. The article also notes that serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Albert Desalvo started out by torturing animals.

Nutro recalls certain varieties of dry cat food

The Consumerist reports that Nutro has announced a voluntarily recall of certain types of dry cat food based on incorrect mineral levels. Affected food was distributed in all 50 states, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Israel. Check out this link to the recall website for the affected brands.

Court rules against pet cemetery

Florida Today reports that a pet cemetery must pay former clients for breaching an agreement over a monkey named Mighty who was buried at the cemetery. The pet cemetery had guaranteed 100 years of “perpetual care” for the Mighty’s grave. According to the article, the couple had Mighty's remains removed last year after seeing overgrowth, missing grave markers, remnants of a small fire and a “For Sale” sign on Lassiter’s property.

Florida State University police looking into alleged animal cruelty and abandonment

A witness reportedly spotted a woman drop off a black and tan Chihuahua at the the FSU/FAMU College of Engineering and then drive away as the dog ran after the car. The Chihuahua had injuries on its back, according to the article at the Tallahassee Democrat. Police are investigating for potential violations of Florida's animal cruetly and abandonment laws. Police are also looking for information regarding the identification of the suspect or owner of the dog.

Two more mutilated cats found

The Miami Herald reports that two more mutilated cats have been found in south Florida. The cats were found more than 50 miles apart. Officials are uncertain whether these killings are connected to the earlier crimes.

News roundup

• 92 live pets, 16 dead found in Gainesville home (Gainesville Sun).
• Protestors target restaurant's lobster game (Miami Herald).
• Case of starving cats points to animal cruelty penalties (Sun Sentinel).
• Summer time safety tips for pets (Tampa Bay Newspapers).
  
• Protecting your pet from the storm (Sun Sentinel).
• Cockfighting ring found after noise complaint (Miami Herald).
• Hillsborough County pet shelter needs volunteers (St. Pete Times).