SEQUIM — The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to hear an animal cruelty lawsuit involving the Olympic Game Farm in Sequim filed by an animal rights group.
A court date has not been set, but the case has been referred to the state Supreme Court by the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington.
“This means there are questions of Washington state law that the federal court has referred to us to answer,” said Lorrie Thompson, communications officer with Washington Courts, on Friday.
A letter from the deputy clerk of the Supreme Court to the parties involved said the plaintiff’s opening brief must be submitted by Oct. 7.
Responses must be filed within 30 days, after which a hearing date will be set, Thompson said.
In 2018, California-based animal rights group the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) sued Olympic Game Farm — an animal reserve in Sequim with exotic animals including brown bears, wolves, Siberian tigers and African lions — alleging it provided improper care of its animals.
ALDF alleged the animals at the farm were being housed in substandard enclosures, too small for the large animals living there, and that animals had not received proper veterinary care.
Olympic Game Farm has refuted those allegations. Portions of ADLF’s claims have been dismissed.
“The federal court dismissed ALDF’s public nuisance claim as legally baseless. Now ALDF hopes the Washington Supreme Court will reach a different result,” said Robert Beebe of Olympic Game Farm, in an email.
“We are confident that the federal court reached the right decision in this case and Olympic Game Farm welcomes the Washington Supreme Court’s review.”
Beebe said the facility is fully licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has been in business for more than 50 years.
In March, the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington partially granted the defendant’s request for summary judgment, dismissing charges the farm constituted a public nuisance.
But U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik said there was sufficient evidence to suggest Olympic Game Farm had violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA), among other animal care laws.
“Plaintiff has raised a triable issue of fact regarding whether the feeding of unrestricted bread to bears, the housing and care of wolves, the failure to provide adequate veterinarian care to tigers for renal disease, and/or the failure to provide timely and adequate care for (an animal’s) broken femur violates the ESA,” Lasnik wrote in his decision.
ALDF has accused the farm of violating the federal ESA as well as Washington state animal cruelty laws, including the state’s own Endangered Species Act.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at psegall@soundpublishing.com.
