Oregon (USA) court case: State of Oregon v. Nix

Summary

In 2010, a jury found the owner of a farm found with dozens of emaciated or dead animals guilty of 20 counts of second-degree animal neglect, one for each neglected animal. The court instead merged the convictions, claiming that the animals did not fit under the definition of victims in statute ORS 161.067(2), which allows as many convictions per as many victims. The State appealed, and the Court of Appeals, under review of the text and history of the statute, concluded that, “although animals are usually considered the property of persons, ORS 167.325 reflects a broader public interest in ‘protect [ing] individual animals as sentient beings’ by ensuring that such animals receive minimum care and are not abused or neglected” (2). The Court of Appeals reversed the merger of the 20 convictions, and ruled that animals can be considered victims under the statute. The issue was subsequently brought before the Oregon Supreme Court, which affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision.