John,
As we close out 2019, I’m sending an update on cases you’ve been supporting, and animals you’ve been fighting for this year. You are with us in every courtroom we enter — you give animals a voice in our legal system and bring abusers to justice. We’ve won key victories with you beside us.
Our fight continues now for animals who are still abused, neglected, and exploited. We have a critical case scheduled for trial in January, and each day we are fighting for justice for animals in every corner of the country. Your generous year-end support now will help us pursue cases like these and win:
Fighting a California Puppy Hoarder
The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the owner of California Carolina Dogs — an enterprise that has bred dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions for years — demanding that the court shut down this illegal breeding operation. We secured a preliminary injunction that required the owner to cease possessing dogs during the pendency of the litigation, and the trial is scheduled for early 2020.
Protecting Gray Wolves
Fur-Ever Wild, a roadside zoo in Minnesota, has a gruesome business model. Fur-Ever Wild customers can pay for “pet n’ play” sessions where they handle threatened gray wolf puppies. But when the wolves get too old to handle, the owner has admitted to killing them for their pelts and other body parts. We’ve filed a lawsuit against Fur-Ever Wild to stop the killing and move the wolves and pups to a bona fide sanctuary. And this week, the lawsuit settled as Fur-Ever Wild agreed to stop killing wolves and selling wolf parts.
Challenging Iowa’s Ag-Gag 2.0 Law
In 2017, we led a coalition in challenging Iowa’s first Ag-Gag law, which sought to criminalize whistleblowing on factory farms, slaughterhouses, and puppy mills. We won, but Iowa’s governor signed a second Ag-Gag bill into law that is substantively similar to the first. It’s a blatant attempt to stifle free speech about animal cruelty. We’re challenging Iowa’s “Ag-Gag 2.0,” and just secured an important victory — a court order barring enforcement of that unconstitutional law while our suit proceeds. We are confident that the court will strike down Ag-Gag 2.0 just as it did its predecessor.
Ending Invasive Cat Experiments
Since 2002, the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry has used taxpayer dollars to conduct painful and invasive experiments on the brains of cats. In 2018, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research & Experimentation in response to SUNY’s refusal to release public records regarding the experiments. After more than a year of fighting, we secured a victory! As part of the settlement, SUNY has produced documents proving its College of Optometry has ceased its experimentation on cats and will provide the previously withheld public records regarding the cat experiments and any records about similar research carried out on nonhuman primates.
John, we cannot do this work without you. Another year is coming to an end but our fight to protect animals in the courts and in legislatures across the country continues. Please donate now to support all our legal battles for animals. Thank you for helping to save animals’ lives.
