Supreme Court Takes Up Pet Food Fight

The Supreme Court agreed this week to decide if changes made to a state-level legal complaint about allegedly overpriced dog food prevent the federal court system from hearing a proposed class action launched by consumers. The pet food manufacturers who brought the appeal say that federal courts of appeal are divided over whether changes made to a state-level complaint, after its transfer to federal court, negate federal subject-matter jurisdiction. Pet owners in Missouri, who purchased the food, allege that the manufacturers deceived them into believing that certain products were available only with a prescription. The companies named in the lawsuit “have created and enforced on retailers and consumers a requirement that certain dog and cat foods be sold only with a ‘prescription’ from a veterinarian, even though no law requires such a prescription,” the pet owners said in court papers....