Cite as 386 F.3d 1169 (9th Cir. 2004)
Second, if a plaintiff has suffered sufficient injury to satisfy Article III, a federal court must ask whether a statute has conferred “standing” on that plaintiff. Non-constitutional standing exists when “a particular plaintiff has been granted a right to sue by the specific statute under which he or she brings suit.” Sausalito, 386 F.3d at 1199, 2004 WL 2348385. To ensure enforcement of statutorily created duties, Congress may confer standing as it sees fit on any plaintiff who satisfies Article III. Id. at 1199, 2004 WL 2348385. Where it is arguable whether a plaintiff has suffered sufficient injury to satisfy Article III, the Supreme Court has some times insisted as a matter of “prudence” that Congress make its intention clear before it will construe a statute to confer standing on a particular plaintiff. See, e.g., Nat’l Credit Union Admin. v. First Nat. Bank & Trust Co., 522 U.S. 479, 488, 118 S.Ct. 927, 140 L.Ed.2d 1 (1998); Ass’n of Data Processing Serv. Orgs., Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 153, 90 S.Ct. 827, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970); see also Fed. Election Com’n v. Akins, 524 U.S. 11, 19, 118 S.Ct. 1777, 141 L.Ed.2d 10 (1998) (describing “the common-law interests and substantive statutory rights upon which ‘prudential’ standing traditionally rested”); Raines v. Byrd, 521 U.S. 811, 820 n. 3, 117 S.Ct. 2312, 138 L.Ed.2d 849 (1997) (explicit grant of authority to bring suit “eliminates any prudential standing limitations”). If a plaintiff has suffered sufficient injury to satisfy the jurisdictional requirement of Article III but Congress has not granted statutory standing, that plaintiff cannot state a crlaim upon which relief can be granted. See Steel Co., 523 U.S. at 97, 118 S.Ct. 1003 (statutory standing is not a jurisdictional question of whether there is case or controversy under Article III); Guerrero v. Gates, 357 F.3d 911, 920–21 (9th Cir.2003) (where plaintiffs lacked standing under RICO, affirming district court’s dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)). In that event, the suit should be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6). Guerrero, 357 F.3d at 920–21.
A. Article III Standing
Article III does not compel the conclusion that a statutorily authorized suit in the name of an animal is not a “case or controversy.” As commentators have observed, nothing in the text of Article III explicitly limits the ability to bring a claim in federal court to humans. See U.S. Const, art. III; see also Cass R. Sunstein, Standing for Animals (With Notes on Animal Rights), 47 UCLA L.Rev. 1333 (2000) (arguing that Congress could grant standing to animals, but has not); Katherine A. Burke, Can We Stand For It? Amending the Endangered Species Act with an Animal-Suit Provision, 75 U. Colo. L.Rev. 633 (2004) (same).
Animals have many legal rights, protected under both federal and state laws. In some instances, criminal statutes punish those who violate statutory duties that protect animals. See, e.g., African Elephant Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 4201–4245; Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 2131–2159; Horse Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1821–1831; Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1331–1340; see also, e.g., N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 356 (obliging anyone who has impounded or confined an animal to provide good air, water, shelter, and food); Cal.Penal Code § 597a (imposing criminal penalties on anyone who transports an animal in a cruel or inhumane manner). In other instances, humans whose interests are affected by the existence or welfare of animals are granted standing to bring civil suits to enforce statutory duties that protect these animals. The ESA and the MMPA are good examples of such statutes.
