 |
| PETA, opossum, possum drop, mary cummins, animal advocates |
We've been working on this with my vet Dr Kenneth Jones and PETA attorney Martina Bernstein for two years. PETA won the previous lawsuits which is why the state passed a new bill "The opossums right to work act." That bill allowed an opossum to be dropped at midnight for mere human entertainment in violation of wildlife regulations. PETA sued stating it was a violation of wildlife laws and they had no permit. The state then passed another new bill making all wildlife laws unenforceable for the last week of the year just so they could have the opossum drop. PETA sued again stating this is unconstitutional.
"The animal-welfare organization PETA sued in Wake County Superior Court on Thursday asking a judge to stop the state from allowing the New Year’s Eve "Possum Drop" in Clay County and declare as unconstitutional a law enacted this year to allow it.
The lawsuit said the statute violates state and federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process for being vague and selective.
A bill the General Assembly passed and the governor signed sought to clarify a long-running legal fight between People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and supporters of the annual Brasstown event in which a possum is lowered in a box at midnight.
The new law allows it between Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 every year. That, according to the lawsuit, "creates a zone of lawlessness in Clay County" because it allows anything to happen to the possum.
Among the plaintiffs is an opossum expert, who says the law would seem to allow her to do what she can to prevent a possum’s capture or to rescue a captured one. But the law is vague; she doesn’t know if she’d be prosecuted, according to the suit.
PETA will also be in an administrative law judge’s courtroom in Raleigh on Friday arguing with the state over whether the state Wildlife Resources Commission’s authority to issue licenses for the event the past two years. The state is arguing that action is moot because of the new law.
The new lawsuit was filed because only a superior court judge, not an administrative law judge, can declare that a state law is unconstitutional."
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/07/17/4012372/peta-sues-over-new-possum-drop.html
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.
- Mary Cummins LinkedIn
- Mary Cummins Meet up
- Animal Advocates custom Facebook name
- Mary Cummins Real Estate blog
- Animal Advocates on Google maps
- Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates
- Mary Cummins biography resume short
- Mary Cummins Real Estate Services
- Animal Advocates fan page at Facebook.com
- Mary Cummins Animal Advocates Squirrel Rescue
- Mary Cummins Animal Advocates on Flickr photos
- Mary Cummins Animal Advocates on Twitter.com
- Mary Cummins on Picasa web photo albums
- Mary Cummins on MySpace.com
- Mary Cummins on Google Blogger Blogspot
- Mary Cummins on YouTube.com videos
- Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates on Classmates
- Mary Cummins on VK
- Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates on Google+