University Daily Kansan
Thursday, February 7, 1980
5
Cats get new home
By MARK SPENCER
Staff Writer
The search for a home for seven lions found in rural Douglas County last week prompted the agency to owner, charged with cruelty to animals by neglecting them, agreed to relinquish
"This office has done a lot of extra legal work on this case," Douglas County District Attorney Mike Malone said, "but the lions are going to be well cared for."
The animals are expected to be moved soon to their new home by their owner, Jeffrey Sharon, Overland Park, who had previously vowed to fight to keep them.
Malone declined to say anything about the cats' new home, other than that they were going to a family in another Kansas county who already owned three lions.
THE STORY of the lions emerged after the U.S. Department of Agriculture brought the Douglas County district attorney's cows to a farm in a cattle trailer and two delivery trucks. Two of the cats, a jaguar and a tiger, have been taken to the zoo.
Craig Stancliffe, assistant district attorney, accompanied by several other persons interested in the lions, found the animals in the trailers Jan. 31.
Authorities said it appeared that the animals had been without food and water for several days. The animals also were exposed to the wind, they said.
Malone said the lions' new home was well-equipped. They will receive 24-hour
supervision from experienced handlers,
food water, fresh bedding, a windbreak and
a run.
The new owners 'haved consent to let the USDA inspectors come on their property and inspect it any time they want,' Malone said.
They also have agreed to keep the lions permanently if necessary and to pay for their expenses.
The Committee to Save the Lawrence Lions, organized last week by Nancy Felton, Lawrence junior, and animal caretaker at Haworth Hall, has raised money and food for the animals. Malone what should be done with the donations.
AFTER OFFERING a court order Feb. 1 to move the tiger and juguar Malone charged Sharon with one count of cruelty to animals.
Sharon retained custody of the seven injuries after his lawyer promised that the case would be settled on Monday, however, revealed the conditions had not changed and Malone decided to continue the lawsuit.
Sharon had previously said he would fight to keep the lions. Under the current agreement Sharon will retain ownership and relinquish custody of the lions.
The cruelty to animals charge, however,
has not been dropped.
"This doesn't undo what was done," Malone said. "It just solves the immediate problem.
"If he's convicted, I believe the court still has jurisdiction of the lions."
Proposed bill simplifies contracts
By BLAKE GUMPRECHT
Staff Reporter
Legalese in consumer contracts would be eliminated if a till introduced in the Kansas Senate becomes law.
The bill, introduced by State Sen Jack Janssen, D-Lyons, would require simple language "using words with common and non-English characters" in contracts involving less than $5,000.
Apartment rental leases, loan agreements and insurance contracts are among the documents that would be affected by the changes in laws and businesses would not require simplification.
"We want contracts that the average citizen can understand," Hansen said last week. "When you won't have to hire an attorney simply to interpret a contract."
JANSSEN SAID similar bills were currently under consideration by legislatures in several states. His proposal is patterned after a "plain-age bill" bill
"I think it has about a 50-50 chance of passage," he said.
approved by the New York Legislature last year.
Several attempts to pass similar measures in the Kansas Legislature have failed in recent years.
State Sen. Bert Chaney, D-Hutchinson, has introduced proposals in the past three years to require simple language in insurance contracts.
His first proposal, he said, didn't get out of committee. The next year the bill made it out of committee but was killed on the Senate floor.
CHANEY'S LATEST PROPOSAL,
however, passed the Senate and is currently idle in the House Insurance Committee.
Because of the progress of his simple-English bills, Chaney is optimistic about the chances of Janssen's proposal.
"If it doesn't get through this session, I think it will get through within five years," he said. "It's sort of a trend. Legislatures are becoming more consumer-oriented."
Among the persons expected to lobby against the bill are attorneys and insurance brokers.
Insurance companies have lobbied heavily against Chaney's simple-English bills, charging that such a law would increase costs by creating more paper work.
"I don't see why anybody would want to oppose the bill," said State Sen. Arnold Berman. "D-Lawrence." "But someone ideas to reason. I think it a good idea."
Steve Ruddick, KU Student Legal Services attorney, also said he liked the proposal.
"Conceivably, there would be fewer legal problems if people knew what they signed in the first place," he said.
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