Hillsborough County v. Snyder
Hillsborough County v. Snyder
Opinion of the Court
Appellee, the executive director of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, sought a permanent injunction against Hillsborough County (County) and Daniel Gorman (as director of the Hillsborough County Department of Animal Control) to stop the County’s practice of supplying animals to the University of South Florida (USF) for medical research. The practice is common
Appellants urge upon us several suggested grounds for reversal. We need reach only the first. We reverse on the ground that appellee did not have standing to bring the suit. Our review of the record convinces us that appellee had neither pleaded nor proven any “special injury” which would vest in him standing to bring this action.
We reverse, quash and set aside the permanent injunction ordered by the trial court. We note in closing that the concerns of the trial court no longer exist, because in the time between the issuing of the injunction and the oral argument for this appeal, the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners enacted ordinance 87-7, which expressly authorizes the transfer of unwanted animals to USF for medical research.
Reversed.
. The trial court’s oral findings and conclusions were expressly incorporated into its written order.
. Appellee has failed to present the merits of his position in either written brief or oral argument. We shall not speculate as to the reason for this inaction.
.Paragraph 2 of appellee’s "Amended Complaint for Permanent Injunction" states: ‘That Plaintiff is a citizen and resident of Hillsbor-ough County, Florida and is currently the Executive Director of-the Humane Society of Tampa Bay."
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.