NEW
ORLEANS (AP) — Judges in Baton Rouge on Monday dismissed two lawsuits
challenging different aspects of Louisiana's law against owning exotic
cats.
One lawsuit sought to overturn an exemption to the ban that allows the owner of Tiger Truck Stop near Baton Rouge to keep his live tiger mascot on exhibit. District Judge William Morvant dismissed the Animal Legal Defense Fund's challenge to the exemption granted to truck stop owner Michael Sandlin.
The other lawsuit was filed by Yogie and Friends, a north Louisiana animal sanctuary threatened by the ban. District Judge Robert Downing dismissed the suit filed for sanctuary director Jenny Senier.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is considering its next move.
"We disagree with Judge Morvant's legal conclusions, so an appeal is certainly an option, but we need to decide whether it's just easier to do as he suggested" and make the challenge to Sandlin's exemption part of Sandlin's earlier challenge to the ban itself, Matthew Liebman, a staff attorney for the group, said in an email.
District Judge Janice Clark heard arguments in Sandlin's earlier lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban 2 ½ years ago but has not yet ruled.
Attorney Jennifer Treadway Nixon, who represents both Sandlin and Senier, is also considering how to respond to the development. She described largely procedural reasons for throwing out the lawsuits.
She said she might combine the sanctuary's lawsuit with Sandlin's earlier challenge to the ban or just file a new lawsuit for Senier.
Nixon had asked Downing for a temporary order to keep the state from enforcing the law against Yogie and Friends.
Instead, she said, he agreed with state attorneys who said she had broken a court rule by failing to note that Sandlin's challenge to the ban was already in court.
"Our main concern was the safety of the cats and preventing criminal charges against the owners for possessing the cats," Nixon said. She said sanctuary officials may move the animals to an out-of-state sanctuary until the case is decided.
"If they do that there's no urgency and we can wait on Judge Clark and add them to that suit," Nixon said
A state law passed in 2006 prohibits big cat ownership in Louisiana, with exceptions for universities, zoos and scientific organizations. A new law passed this year established an exemption that some lawmakers said applied only to Sandlin.
source
One lawsuit sought to overturn an exemption to the ban that allows the owner of Tiger Truck Stop near Baton Rouge to keep his live tiger mascot on exhibit. District Judge William Morvant dismissed the Animal Legal Defense Fund's challenge to the exemption granted to truck stop owner Michael Sandlin.
The other lawsuit was filed by Yogie and Friends, a north Louisiana animal sanctuary threatened by the ban. District Judge Robert Downing dismissed the suit filed for sanctuary director Jenny Senier.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is considering its next move.
"We disagree with Judge Morvant's legal conclusions, so an appeal is certainly an option, but we need to decide whether it's just easier to do as he suggested" and make the challenge to Sandlin's exemption part of Sandlin's earlier challenge to the ban itself, Matthew Liebman, a staff attorney for the group, said in an email.
District Judge Janice Clark heard arguments in Sandlin's earlier lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban 2 ½ years ago but has not yet ruled.
Attorney Jennifer Treadway Nixon, who represents both Sandlin and Senier, is also considering how to respond to the development. She described largely procedural reasons for throwing out the lawsuits.
She said she might combine the sanctuary's lawsuit with Sandlin's earlier challenge to the ban or just file a new lawsuit for Senier.
Nixon had asked Downing for a temporary order to keep the state from enforcing the law against Yogie and Friends.
Instead, she said, he agreed with state attorneys who said she had broken a court rule by failing to note that Sandlin's challenge to the ban was already in court.
"Our main concern was the safety of the cats and preventing criminal charges against the owners for possessing the cats," Nixon said. She said sanctuary officials may move the animals to an out-of-state sanctuary until the case is decided.
"If they do that there's no urgency and we can wait on Judge Clark and add them to that suit," Nixon said
A state law passed in 2006 prohibits big cat ownership in Louisiana, with exceptions for universities, zoos and scientific organizations. A new law passed this year established an exemption that some lawmakers said applied only to Sandlin.
source
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