An Introduction To Animal Law

This exploration of the newly emerging, diverse, and controversial area of animal lawpresents a basic survey of the laws designed to protect animals, analyzing and critiquing them, and proposing a future where the legal regime properly recognizes and protects the inherent worth of all animals.

This open access book contains 13 contributions on global animal law, preceded by an introduction which explains key concepts and methods. Global Animal Law refers to the sum of legal rules and principles (both state-made and non-state-made) governing the interaction between humans and other animals, on a domestic, local, regional, and international level. Global animal law is the response to the mismatch between almost exclusively national animal-related legislation on the one hand, and the global dimension of the animal issue on the other hand. The chapters lay some historical foundations in the ius naturae et gentium, examine various aspects of how national and international law traditionally deals with animals as commodity; and finally suggest new legal concepts and protective strategies. The book shows numerous entry points for animal issues in international law and at the same time shifts the focus and scope of inquiry.

Legislation relating to animals has ancient origins and in many civilizations certain species have held particular significance, be it religious, cultural, nutritional, or sporting. As a general rule, the law was primarily concerned with animals as property, rather than in need of protection, until the 19th century. Since the 1970s animal law has proved to be a growth area in the production and enforcement of both national and international legislation. This has been particularly so in the areas of conservation and welfare and there has been extensive legal and philosophical consideration of the status of animals.This book is not intended to be a standard text, but rather a handbook in the true sense, a guide for the lay person--namely, to help the non-lawyer to understand the basic concepts of animal law and to provide the lawyer (who is the lay person in the world of animal science) with an introduction to relevant concepts and literature which are not normally found in the conventional legal texts.

This unique book establishes potential future avenues within the law to enhance the welfare of animals and grant them recognised legal status. Charting the direction of the animal-human relationship for future generations, it explores the core concepts of property law to demonstrate how change is possible for domestic animals. As an ethical context for future developments the concept of a ‘right of place’ is proposed and developed.

Sonia S. Waisman is an Adjunct Professor of Law, California Western School of Law, Of Counsel, Morrison & Foerster, LLP.

This book focuses on animal laws and animal welfare in major jurisdictions in the world, including the more developed legal regimes for animal protection of the US, UK, Australia, the EU and Israel, and the regulatory regimes still developing in China, South Africa, and Brazil. It offers in-depth analyses and discussions of topical and important issues in animal laws and animal welfare, and provides a comprehensive and comparative snapshot of some of the most important countries in the world in terms of animal population and worsening animal cruelty. Among the issues discussed are international law topics that relate to animals, including the latest WTO ruling on seal products and the EU ban, the Blackfish story and US law for cetaceans, the wildlife trafficking and crimes related to Africa and China, and historical and current animal protection laws in the UK and Australia. Bringing together the disciplines of animal law and animal welfare science as well as ethics and criminology with contributions from some of the most prominent animal welfare scientists and animal law scholars in the world, the book considers the strengths and failings of existing animal protection law in different parts of the world. In doing so it draws more attention to animal protection as a moral and legal imperative and to crimes against animals as a serious crime.

Two-thirds of Americans polled by the Associated Press agree with the following statement: "An animal's right to live free of suffering should be just as important as a person's right to live free of suffering." More than 50 percent of Americans believe that it is wrong to kill animals to make fur coats or to hunt them for sport. But these same Americans eat hamburgers, take their children to circuses and rodeos, and use products developed with animal testing. How do we justify our inconsistency? In this easy-to-read introduction, animal rights advocate Gary Francione looks at our conventional moral thinking bout animals. Using examples, analogies, and thought-experiments, he reveals the dramatic inconsistency between what we say we believe about animals and how we actually treat them. Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? provides a guidebook to examining our social and personal ethical beliefs. It takes us through concepts of property and equal consideration to arrive at the basic contention of animal rights: that everyone -- human and non-human -- has the right not to be treated as a means to an end. Along the way, it illuminates concepts and theories that all of us use but few of us understand -- the nature of "rights" and "interests," for example, and the theories of Locke, Descartes, and Bentham. Filled with fascinating information and cogent arguments, this is a book that you may love or hate, but that will not fail to inform, enlighten, and educate.

Animal Law: Welfare Interests & Rights, Third Edition, by David Favre, exposes the student to the wide scope of legal and ethical issues surrounding animal law in our society. It contains a mix of cases and essay materials for a number of animal issues in the context of state police power, constitutional law, and traditional common law. A primary focus is the property status of animals in the civil and criminal law, the expanding visibility of dogs in our legal system, and the most recent attempts to seek legal rights for animals. New to the Third Edition: The introduction provides more focused materials on the fundamental concepts, such as pain and suffering, that are needed for the entire course. The chapter on damages is rewritten with new organization and updated cases. The chapter on legal rights for animals is significantly enhanced with the most recent cases. In all chapters, references are updated. Professors and students will benefit from: Clear consideration of the history of anti-cruelty criminal laws and the difficulties of using the criminal law to help animals. The key phrase of “unnecessary pain and suffering” is considered in detail. A clear articulation of the enhanced status of companion animals, within the ever-changing state laws of our country. A review of the significant limitations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. An explanation of the power of the state to pass laws regulating companions, laws dealing with breed specific bans, and dangerous dog laws. An in-depth consideration of the status of companion animals both as property and as beings with legal rights in some circumstances. Significant editing of all cases.