COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Animal owners who are suing over the state's new regulations on dangerous wildlife say the Humane Society of the United States shouldn't be permitted to join the state in defending the law.
Four owners filed a lawsuit in Columbus federal court on Nov. 2, contending the restrictions threaten their First Amendment and property rights.
The Humane Society asked a judge this week to allow the organization to intervene in the lawsuit.
The organization says it has a significant interest in defending the law that it strongly supported, as well as an interest in the lawsuit's outcome since the organization is pushing similar laws nationwide.
The owners' attorney told a judge Friday that the organization's interests are political, and the group failed to demonstrate how the state wouldn't protect their interests.
