On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast I speak to Amanda Howell, a Staff Attorney at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, about a lawsuit that was recently brought in federal court in Missouri seeking to invalidate, as unconstitutional, a law that prohibits the producers of plant-based and cell-based products from misrepresenting those products as “meat.” The plaintiffs in this case, Tofurky and the Good Food Institute, argue that  the language of the law is vague, over-protective, and ineffectual at protecting the public from misleading information.

Amanda Howell’s work at ALDF focuses on combating humane-washing, AgGag laws, and the animal agriculture industry’s attacks on plant-based foods. Prior to joining ALDF, Amanda co-headed the food law practice at the Stanley Law Group—using state consumer protection laws to combat false advertising and deceptive practices. Prior to that, Amanda served as Assistant Director of Litigation at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Amanda has contributed to the National Association of Consumer Advocates’ Standards and Guidelines publication, the National Consumer Law Center’s Class Actions Manual, and has co-authored an article for the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Food and Drug Policy Forum on “natural” labeling issues.

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I talk to Brittany Peet, the director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement at the PETA Foundation, about her efforts to use the Endangered Species Act to help some tiger cubs and other animals who have been subjected to horrific maltreatment at the rather disturbingly named organization Wildlife In Need, a roadside exhibitor in Indiana.

This case, captioned PETA v Wildlife in Need and Wildlife In Deed, is currently pending in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, which has already issued a preliminary injunction. It highlights so much of what is wrong with our current regulation of captive wildlife and the alarmingly lax enforcement of the few regulations that are in place. Brittany will also tell us about a related successful action against Wildlife in Need’s veterinarian. 

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I talk to Tony Eliseuson of the Animal Legal Defense Fund about the potential impact of the proposed and proceeding border wall between the United States and Mexico on many species of animals, including endangered ones. We also discuss the several ongoing legal cases surrounding these issues which are based on a wholesale disregard of numerous environmental law, including the Endangered Species Act.  I hope you find the conversation as shocking, and illuminating, as I did.

Tony is a nationally recognized attorney who joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund after a 15-year career as a partner with a leading global law firm. Tony’s path to the Animal Legal Defense Fund began when he was a young associate encouraged by a colleague with a passion for animal law. Tony went on to work on several pro bono cases with the Animal Legal Defense Fund before he joined as full time staff. Before leaving his firm, Tony was named a national Law360 Rising Star for 2014 and was selected to the Illinois Super Lawyer list each year from 2014 to 2017 .

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I’m so pleased to welcome back Matthew Liebman of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, who will be speaking with us about the case of JUSTICE, an American Quarter Horse, by and through his Guardian, Kim Mosiman, Plaintiff, v. GWENDOLYN VERCHER, Defendant. It is certainly a unique case. Justice is bringing a negligence per se claim against his former owner, who previously pled guilty to misdemeanor animal neglect. We discuss the fascinating intricacies of this case, why negligence per se is a particularly apt cause of action for such groundbreaking litigation, what it means to be considered a “person” under the law, and the broader legal implications around Justice’s case. We also discuss the recent disappointing decision, and plans to appeal.

Matthew Liebman is Director of Litigation at ALDF. He has litigated cases including ALDF v. Otter, the first lawsuit to successfully invalidate an Ag-Gag law; Bennett v. McDaniel, which rescued a captive bear from a small concrete cage where she had languished for 16 years; and ALDF v. Conyers, which resulted in the rescue of more than 100 dogs from a North Carolina hoarder. Matthew’s writing has appeared in the Animal Law Review, the Journal of Animal Law, the Stanford Environmental Law Journal, and the Animal Legal & Historical Web Center. With Bruce Wagman, Matthew co-authored  A Worldview of Animal Law, which examines how the legal systems of different countries govern our interactions with animals. He lives with his human companion and their five feline companions Kitty Kitty, Ollie, Emma, Spider, and Niecey.

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I’m so pleased to welcome back environmental lawyer Bill Eubanks of Meyer, Glitzenstein & Eubanks, who will be speaking with us about wild horses. Specifically, he will be discussing plans currently underway at the Bureau of Land Management to clear all the wild horses out of the Caliente Complex, a 700,000 acre area of Nevada where these horses have roamed for many years. While the plan is to get every single one of these horses out, that is not the case for the thousands of cattle and sheep grazing in this area under sweetheart leases granted to private entities by the federal government. Bill will give us the latest on those plans, as well as on the lawsuit he has recently filed on the part of concerned organizations and individuals to stop this travesty.

Bill practices in the areas of federal appellate and trial court litigation under the Endangered Species Act and other federal statutes involving animals and the environment. He’s worked on cases challenging oil spill response strategies harming sea turtles, getting protections for Indiana bats from an industrial wind energy project, obtaining agency records regarding federal financing of coal-fired power facilities, forcing a reconsideration of critical habitat for the California tiger salamander, reducing off-road vehicle use in Big Cypress National Preserve. He also teaches a course examining the intersection of environmental law, food systems, and agricultural policy at Vermont Law School, American University’s Washington College of Law, and at the George Washington University Law School. Among his numerous publications is Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Law, which he co-authored and co-edited.

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I’m so pleased to welcome back Gabriel Walters, Counsel and Manager of Legislative Affairs for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Foundation, where he contributes to PETA’s efforts to pass legislation and win court cases that help animals. Joining us will be PETA Research Associate Jeremy Beckham, who will be providing his expertise on the facts of a very intriguing case. 

If you listened to the interview with Alka Chandna on Episode  392 of  the Our Hen House podcast you are already familiar with some of the underlying facts of the years of research that has been and continues to be performed on golden retrievers at Texas A&M University that is purported to be related to muscular dystrophy. In the lawsuit we will be discussing today, PETA is suing the university, which is a public, government-funded, university, for what it asserts are violations of the First Amendment in shutting out all comments on the University’s Facebook page regarding the research. What a fascinating topic! You do not want to miss this interview!

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I’m bringing you something a little different. I speak with Justin Marceau not about a litigated case, but about the Animal Welfare Act and his recent Hastings Law Journal article, “How The Animal Welfare Act Harms Animals”.  We talk about the failings of this statute and the suffering that the Act contributes to, despite purporting to do otherwise.

Justin Marceau is a professor of law at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver. The focus of his teaching and scholarship includes criminal law, criminal procedure, federal jurisdiction, constitutional law, habeas corpus, the death penalty, and animal law. He also holds what is believed to be the first animal law chair in the country, the Animal Legal Defense Fund Professorship. He was honored as the 2016 Vermont Law School Distinguished Scholar in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems and spent two weeks in residence at the Vermont Law School. He is actively researching a variety of food and animal law issues in preparation for a variety of courses and articles he hopes to pursue in the future.

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I speak with Kim Richman of the Richman Law Group about several different cases he is working on that are all tied together by the theme of “truth in advertising.” We discuss what it means when animal agriculture companies advertise their products as “all-natural,” how that relates to evidence that such food contains trace amounts of antibiotics, what the law says about calling food all-natural, and the consumer protection cases Kim is bringing against companies that he asserts are using advertising that is  deceptive.

Kim Richman, founder of the Richman Law Group, is a litigator of and for the people. Through an activist approach to law and policy, Kim has endeavored to clean our adulterated food systems of contaminants ranging from trans fat and GMOs to synthetic ingredients and pesticides. Most recently, Kim’s mission-driven client base of consumers, NGOs, and progressive business is focused on tackling factory farming practices that threaten animal welfare, the environment, and human health. The firm was founded on the idea that what has not been achieved through legislation can sometimes be achieved through litigation. This tight-knit cadre of tenacious and diverse professionals is dedicated to fighting for the rights of its clients, and through them, the needs of the community at large.

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, Mariann speaks with Sarah Hanneken, a litigation fellow at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, about the case of Brown v. Kemp, which was recently brought in federal District Court in Wisconsin. The case, brought by a journalist, a documentarian and an activist, seeks to invalidate some of the newly-enacted amendments to Wisconsin’s hunter harassment statute (Wis. Stat. § 29.083) on First Amendment and Due Process grounds.

They also talk about the important role of Wolf Patrol, an organization dedicated to the recovery of gray wolves in the lower 48 states. Wolf Patrol encourages “a greater understanding and tolerance for cultural world views that promote a harmonious co-existence with wolves and other predators.” Its activities in Wisconsin, and how they have been hampered by the hunter harassment statute, constitute much of the factual background for this case.  

Sarah Hanneken joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund in 2014 as a clerk in the Litigation Program. Through her work, Sarah hopes to shift people’s perception of the other species with whom we share our homes, neighborhoods and planet.

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year! 

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, Mariann will be speaking with environmental lawyer Bill Eubanks of Meyer, Glizenstein & Eubanks about a case involving whether or not the National Environmental Policy Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act will be able to protect a pair of bald eagles in Colorado from developers. Bill gives us an in-depth explanation of the statutes relevant to this case, and discusses why it’s so important that the permit secured by the developers be vacated so that these nesting eagles and their newborn chicks can be protected.

Bill practices in the areas of federal appellate and trial court litigation under the Endangered Species Act and other federal statutes involving animals and the environment. He’s worked on cases challenging oil spill response strategies harming sea turtles, getting protections for Indiana bats from an industrial wind energy project, obtaining agency records regarding federal financing of coal-fired power facilities, forcing a reconsideration of critical habitat for the California tiger salamander, reducing off-road vehicle use in Big Cypress National Preserve. He also teaches a course examining the intersection of environmental law, food systems, and agricultural policy.at Vermont Law School, American University’s Washington College of Law, and at the George Washington University Law School. Among his numerous publications is Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Law, which he co-authored and co-edited.

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You can listen to our podcast directly on our website (beneath this paragraph!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! 

The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren. The graphics for the OHH podcasts are created by the wonderful Laurie Johnston of Two Trick Pony. Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its ninth glorious year!