EQUINES :: Animal Advocacy
Historic Win for Animals, Advocacy and Freedom of Speech! A HORSE CARRIAGE COMPANY’S LAWSUIT AGAINST ANIMAL ADVOCATES COLLAPSES IN COURT.
By JOE ELMORE, CAWA, CFRE Charleston Animal Society and other animal advocacy organizations and individuals won a major lawsuit brought against them to intimidate and stifle their efforts to bring humane reform to Charleston’s carriage tourist attraction. This was a win for animals, advocacy and freedom of speech! It all started nearly four years ago, when a carriage horse, “Big John,” collapsed during a tour in Downtown Charleston. Charleston Animal Society created a video of the incident 18
CAROLINA TAILS | SUMMER 2022
comprised of footage it received from eyewitnesses as part of its advocacy efforts to make working conditions for the carriage horses more humane, especially during the intense heat of summer. Charleston Carriage Works, which owned Big John, threatened to bring legal action if Charleston Animal Society did not retract the video. The video remains on Charleston Animal Society’s YouTube channel and has more than 66,000 views. A year later, the carriage company brought a lawsuit against Charleston Animal Society, Charleston Carriage Horse Advocates and Ellen Harley
claiming, amongst other things, that the use of the word “collapse” in the video was defamatory. The Court disagreed, holding that the video “is a fundamental example of the type of public discourse protected by the First Amendment.” The Court also determined, based on the carriage company owner’s testimony, that the use of the word “collapse” was not defamatory because it was “substantially true.” This type of lawsuit is what is known as a “SLAPP” lawsuit - a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, which is often used to intimidate
