The Animal Law Podcast - Animal Law Podcast #71: A Case of Bird Flu

Animal Law Podcast #71: A Case of Bird Flu

04/28/21 • 76 min

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I speak with Laura Fox and Daniel Wiener about The Humane Society of the United States v. United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, in which animal advocacy groups are taking on the USDA’s plans for what to do to the chickens who, trapped in factory farms, inevitably come down with bird flu, endangering humans as well as birds with a potential pandemic. After the USDA virtually ignored the suggestion that the birds should be kept in less crowded and less brutal surroundings as a way to possibly avoid such an outbreak, the agency instead decided the birds’ ventilation should be shut off so they can slowly die a horrible death. Oh, and the “farmers” will be compensated by taxpayers for their losses. The horrors visited upon animals seem to keep getting worse, but at least a recent standing decision in US District Court in California will let the case proceed and the courts will have an opportunity to decide whether they have finally just gone too far.

Laura Fox joined the Humane Society of the United States’ Animal Protection Law department in 2015 as an attorney focusing on issues related to puppy mills, and now is the Staff Attorney for Farm Animal Protection working on efforts to reduce extreme confinement practices and challenging their environmental impacts. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Animal Law at George Mason’s Scalia Law School. Daniel Wiener is an associate in the Litigation practice of Shearman and Sterling.

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Previous Episode

Animal Law Podcast #70: The Case of the “Teachable Moments”

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I speak with Vanessa Shakib of Advancing Law for Animals about Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation and Stop Animal Exploitation Now! (“SAEN”) v USDA, in which the plaintiffs sought to vacate two rules promulgated by USDA’s Animal Care division without notice to the public or an opportunity to comment, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. These rules concerned the implementation of two new enforcement policies, the Orwellian-entitled, “Teachable Moments Rule” and “Self-Reporting Rule,” that drastically limited the ability of concerned members of the public and others to ascertain the true violation history regarding the treatment of animals at licensed facilities, including both puppy mills and laboratories. She’ll also tell us about the recent settlement that resolved the lawsuit and how members of the public can best make use the information now available on the USDA website.

We also speak briefly about a recently filed case, also on behalf of SAEN, against the University of Southern California regarding the stark contrast between the University’s claims regarding how animals are kept in their laboratories and the evidence the plaintiff has gathered revealing a much darker picture.

Vanessa Shakib co-founded and co-directs Advancing Law for Animals, a non-profit law firm for our non-human friends that focuses on animal law, government accountability, and illegal business practices. There, she develops impact litigation to further the interests of animals exploited in research and industrial food production. Vanessa regularly presents talks as an invited expert in animal law both nationally and abroad.

Prior to animal law, Vanessa specialized in illegal taxation, consumer protection, and inverse condemnation, among other practice areas. Her track record in government oversight informs her work at Advancing Law for Animals, where she has successfully challenged cruel and illegally-promulgated regulations at the federal level, and lack of animal-welfare enforcement at the local level. Vanessa continues to consult on a variety of legal matters through her private practice, Shakib Law, PC.

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Next Episode

Animal Law Podcast #72: Wildlife as Property Owners

On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I speak with Professor Karen Bradshaw about her new book, Wildlife as Property Owners: A New Conception of Animal Rights, which has been making quite a splash in the animal law world. It’s not often we get a chance to talk about property law and trusts and estates law on this podcast but that’s what we’ll be doing today, along with some Indigenous and Nature Rights law thrown in. This conversation may just expand your thinking about what is possible for those who are working to protect wild animals.

Karen Bradshaw is a Professor of Law and the Mary Sigler Fellow at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She is concurrently a Faculty Affiliate Scholar at the New York University School of Law Classical Liberal Institute and Senior Sustainability Scientist at the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University. She is also a contributing co-editor of Wildfire Policy: Law and Economic Perspectives. You can connect with her at kmbradshaw.com or KM_Bradshaw on Twitter or km.bradshaw on Instagram.

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The Animal Law Podcast is proud to partner with The Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy, Inc., a US-based national independent think tank pursuing a paradigm shift in human responsibility towards, and value of, non-human animals by advancing animal law, animal policy, and related interdisciplinary studies.

As the Animal Law Podcast 2021 Exclusive Sponsor, the The Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy, Inc is dedicated to producing and disseminating outstanding, independent, academic, and public policy research and programming; and pursuing projects and initiatives focused on advancing law and policy pertaining to animals.