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Personal Representation to Ensure Justice: Bridget Penick, Brandon Underwood, Kristy Rogers, Olivia Norwood and Cara Donels
ANIMAL RIGHTS
A team of Fredrikson lawyers, including Bridget Penick, Brandon Underwood, Kristy Rogers, Olivia Norwood and Cara Donels co-counseled with the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and represented four Iowa citizens as plaintiffs in a lawsuit to shut down the Cricket Hollow Zoo in Iowa that exposed its animals to unimaginable conditions.
The zoo had a long history of housing wild and domesticated animals in unsanitary and dangerous enclosures. In 2016, a federal court ordered the removal of four tigers and three lemurs from the zoo, concluding the owners had violated the Endangered Species Act through their confinement of lemurs, tigers and other endangered animals. But it was clear that the owners, who originally began taking in the animals as rescues, were in over their heads with respect to the hundreds of other animals confined at the zoo as well. ALDF contacted Fredrikson to assist and bring a new lawsuit. The complaint alleged that the zoo constituted a statutory and common law public nuisance as evidenced by the fact that conditions present at the zoo documented in years of USDA inspection reports failed to abide by the state’s minimal animal neglect standards. Inspection reports spanning years detailed animals suffering in filthy, unsafe enclosures without adequate food, water or veterinary care. The lawsuit sought to rehome the animals to sanctuaries and permanently enjoin the owners from confining animals in inhumane and unsafe conditions.
Through case discovery and a five-day bench trial, it was obvious to the judge that the deplorable conditions and suffering animals at the zoo were unreasonably offensive and injurious to both the health of the animals and the visiting public. The presiding judge noted in her ruling that many of the animals at the zoo ate and defecated in the same location and did not have access to clean water. Several animals were also housed next to their natural predators, creating a stressful and fearful situation for the prey.
After the judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, ALDF and the Fredrikson team worked with various rescue organizations and animal sanctuaries to relocate most of the animals to clean, safe and secure locations. The Fredrikson team continues to assist ALDF with remaining issues, including tracking down animals that were missing when rescuers arrived and defending the judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on appeal. The team also received assistance from research librarian Janelle Beitz and summer associate Paul Esker.
