- Lawsuit filed against HSUS Texas State Director Lauren Loney.

Published by -NAWA News Feed- in - Animal Law - · Saturday 14 May 2022

In the heat of the City of Dallas pet-store ban, Texas State Director for the United States Humane Society, (HSUS) Lauren Loney has a defamation law suit filed on her.

For right now, the new ordinance banning pet sales in the City of Dallas will stay in place. Or at least until the next elections.

The ordinance had been in the works for eight to 10 months, said Lauren Loney, the Texas state director for the HSUS.

“But that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Loney said. “All the legwork and all the years of building up support for this … has been going on for a very long time.” She added that residents have been protesting the store for more than a decade.

HSUS Texas Director - Lauren Loney

The deformation law suit filed against Loney is asking for up to $1 million dollars.

Just 2% of cities in the United States have been pushed into this direction.

HSUS loves to use the “numbers” word scramble when attempting to rally support.

“Five states and more than 400 localities have enacted similar measures”, said John Goodwin of HSUS.

Sounds impressive? It’s not. Considering the decades of HSUS pushing for such regulations throughout the United States only 2% have been persuaded to enact “similar measures”, (notice that this does not mean all banned.)

HSUS has a very deep and long documented past of deception. Much of that has been documented in the 245 pages of “HSUS X Files, An in-depth background investigation of the dark past of their evolution."

But those against the ordinance said closing one store wouldn't solve the puppy mill issue and instead would result in lost jobs and tax revenue.

"I understand that the purpose is to stop puppy mills," Suk said. "I truly support this goal. However, we work with responsible, licensed and vetted breeders only."

Some dog owners talked about being happy with their purchase, like Teresa Heidt, who said she found a "humane, kind, caring and loving" store when she decided to get a dog about three years ago.

"I'm not really fond of pet stores but what I found … it wasn't a store, it was a community and it was filled with people, the most amazing people that work in this place," Heidt said.

Lisa Abair, the store's manager, said it is an "ally in the fight against puppy mills" and has a staff responsible to the well-being of their animals.

Kunzelman said Suk takes "great care of his pets" and hasn't had any violations. She said organizations haven't reached out to Petland about resolving customer complaints.

Last week, Suk's company, D&J Pets, filed a defamation lawsuit against Loney in a Dallas County court, alleging that she made "deceptive and misleading" statements about the store. He is seeking between $200,000 and $1 million in damages.

M. Carrie Allan, a HSUS spokeswoman, said the group is "still reviewing the documents from D&J Pets, but we are concerned that this is just another attempt by businesses that profit at the expense of puppies to silence animal advocates."