animals as plaintiffs – Animal Law Developments

September 2, 2022September 2, 2022 by Michelle Pardo

Oregon Court of Appeals Rules Animals Are Not Entitled to Legal Personhood

by Michelle C. Pardo

We previously blogged about the Oregon negligence lawsuit that animal activist group Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) brought on behalf of “Justice” — an American Quarter Horse — and his self-described “guardian” against the horse’s former owner. Back in 2017, Justice (formerly named “Shadow” and renamed ostensibly for this lawsuit) was removed from his prior owner’s care for neglect and relocated to a new caretaker. Months later, Justice’s former owner pleaded guilty to first degree animal neglect and was ordered to pay for the cost of Justice’s care prior to July, 2017. Continue reading “Oregon Court of Appeals Rules Animals Are Not Entitled to Legal Personhood”

September 20, 2018September 20, 2018 by Michelle Pardo

Justice the Horse Will NOT Have his Day in Court

by Michelle C. Pardo

In August, we updated you about a lawsuit filed by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) in which a horse called Justice was the named plaintiff. On September 17, 2019, an Oregon judge rejected the “creative” theory that an animal has legal capacity to sue its former owner and dismissed the case with prejudice, delivering another blow to various animal activist groups’ movement to open the courthouse doors to non-human animal litigants. Continue reading “Justice the Horse Will NOT Have his Day in Court”