cows

Litigation – List of Cases

Filing High Impact Lawsuits that Expand the Protections for Animals Under the Law

The Litigation Program files high-impact lawsuits against individuals and industries that exploit animals, including factory farms, puppy mills, research laboratories, and roadside zoos. We litigate cases in state and federal courts with the goal of stopping abusive practices and setting ground-breaking precedent that will establish justice for animals in the legal system. In addition to suing animal abusers, we often sue state and federal governments and agencies to invalidate laws and regulations that harm animals; and we intervene in litigation to defend animal protection laws when they are under siege from industries that abuse animals.

cow in factory farming

Challenging FDA Approval of Experior

The Animal Legal Defense Fund sued the Food and Drug Administration to challenge the agency’s approval of Experior, an animal drug that claims to reduce ammonia emissions from cows on feedlots.
Justice the horse

Justice the Horse Sues Abuser

In 2018, the Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a groundbreaking lawsuit on behalf of an 8-year-old horse named Justice. If successful, this lawsuit will be the first to establish that animals have a legal right to sue their abusers in court.
pigs

Defending California’s Landmark Farmed Animal Protection Law, Proposition 12

For the second time, the Animal Legal Defense Fund has intervened to help California defend its landmark farmed animal protection law, Proposition 12. The case will next be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
monkey

Challenging University of Wisconsin’s Censorship of Speech on Social Media

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of a former employee of one of UW-Madison’s primate research labs, who has been prevented from posting truthful comments on the school’s otherwise public Instagram and Facebook posts because they are critical of the university’s storied history of animal testing.
Pigs

Challenging Hormel’s Deceptive Advertising Practices: Natural Choice®

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against Hormel Foods Corporation alleging the company is misleading consumers through the advertising of its Natural Choice® brand of lunch meats and bacon.
puppy

Suing Unscrupulous Puppy Traffickers Who Knowingly Sold Sick Dogs

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the Kenney family seeking to end their deceptive marketing and sale of puppies, and to recover damages for those who were victimized by the puppy traffickers’ unscrupulous conduct.

Challenging Arkansas’ Meat Labeling Law

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit challenging an Arkansas law that prohibits plant-based and cultivated-meat producers from, among other things, using “meat” terminology because their products do not come from a slaughtered animal.
Lawsuit to Force USDA to Recognize Its Authority to Take Possession of Animals Upon License Revocation

Lawsuit to Force USDA to Recognize Its Authority to Take Possession of Animals Upon License Revocation

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit challenging the USDA decision to deny a petition for rulemaking that urged the agency’s APHIS to revise its limited animal confiscation regulations and establish procedures for relocating animals from facilities that do not comply with the AWA.

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