Survey Reveals Telling Data on Women in Leadership Roles in Science and Agriculture
Latest from Animal Law Update
The Intersection of Religion and Regulation Creates Challenges for Halal and Kosher Meat Production
People who observe Halal and Kosher religious practices are increasingly faced with a threat to the prohibition of such slaughter practices in certain countries. Many Muslim and Jewish observers follow dietary religious laws if they eat meat. Specifically, livestock and poultry must be slaughtered following strict rules, requiring that the animal is healthy at the time of slaughter and has not been rendered unconscious through stunning.[i] Animal rights activists believe that such practices cause…
Is North Carolina’s Right to Farm Act a “Special” Law?
In this series of posts examining a recent challenge to North Carolina’s expansion of its Right to Farm Act, Rural Empowerment Ass’n for Cmty. Help v. State, No. 19-CVS-008198 (N.C. Super. Ct. filed June 19, 2019) (detailed here), today’s post considers the plaintiffs’ invocation of the relatively unknown, but not un-litigated, prohibition on “local and special laws” in the N.C. Constitution. N.C. Const. art. II, § 24. “The General Assembly shall not enact any…
State Restrictions on Pet Burials in Cemeteries Can Be Hard on Owners
Losing a pet can be hard for owners. However, it can be even harder for those owners to know that they will be separated from their beloved pets in their final resting place. In the U.S., households own about 89.7 million dogs and 94.2 million cats.[1] When looking at total pet ownership, including horses, fish and other animals, that number is at almost 400 million “pets.”[2] As sad as it may…
Everything but the Kitchen Sink: Advocacy groups cite a number of constitutional challenges to North Carolina’s expansion of the Right to Farm Act.
In the ongoing controversy over a series of nuisance suits regarding eastern North Carolinian hog-farming operations, a collection of advocacy groups have now filed a constitutional challenge to the North Carolina General Assembly’s recent amendments to the Right to Farm Act (the “Act”) (detailed here) in Wake County Superior Court. Rural Empowerment Ass’n for Cmty. Help v. State, No. 19-CVS-008198 (N.C. Super. Ct. filed June 19, 2019).
The amendments to the Act protect…
The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and Undercover Employees
In recent years, farmers and ranchers have been increasingly targeted by animal rights groups trespassing on their properties, stealing farm animals, and other acts of vandalism. The frequency with which undercover animal rights groups infiltrate farms, ranches and other animal enterprises as undercover employees is increasing. In light of this increased activity, farmers and ranchers are searching for new ways to guard their property and protect their animals, especially after a breach of privacy. Although…
Challenges and Opportunities in Veterinary Medicine
According to the 2017-2018 American Veterinary Medical Association’s Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook, approximately 71.5 million U.S. households own at least one pet, 38% of which are dogs.[1] There is also a large portion of the country that owns non-traditional “pets” – equine, cattle, poultry and other livestock. Pet and livestock owners in urban, suburban and rural areas have a high demand for veterinarian care, but the high barriers to entry in an accredited…
The De-Weaponization of FOIA
In a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS rejected the “substantial competitive harm” test, as applied to FOIA’s Exemption 4, established by the D. C. Circuit in National Parks & Conservation Assn. v. Morton, 498 F. 2d 765, 767 (D.C. Cir. 1974) (“the National Parks test”) and adopted by many other appellate courts since that time. See Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, 588 U.S. ____ (2019). After overcoming the jurisdictional hurdle facing FMI—known as “standing”—the Court…
The Veterinarian Client Patient Relationship and Telemedicine
Can veterinarians comply with state and federal requirements for the Veterinary Client Patient Relationship and practice via telemedicine?
Nearly, if not all states, have some requirements regarding the establishment and maintenance of a veterinarian-client-patient relationships (VCPR) before the veterinarian can treat an animal owned by a client. In New Jersey, for example, the regulations (not statute) defines the VCPR as
i) The veterinarian has undertaken to make medical judgments regarding the health of an animal…
Best Practices for Meat Producers
Beef producers and packers have been required for years to “identify hazard points and critical points during beef slaughtering, which is a necessary first step toward developing a hazard analysis and critical control point system to control meat contamination by Escherichia coli O157:H7.” See R. Guyon, et. al, Hazard Analysis of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Contamination during Beef Slaughtering in Calvados, France, J. Food Protection, Vol 64, No. 9, 2001, pp 1341-1345. While protecting the health…