Animal Law Welfare Interests And Rights

This innovative book explores the emerging area of animal rights law. Animal Law: Welfare, Interest, and Rights asks the question, 'What are the arguments for animal rights as a matter of philosophy and at law?' David Favre, a well-known figure in

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.

This unique book establishes potential future avenues within the law to enhance the welfare of animals and grant them recognized 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. The Future of Animal Law focuses on dogs as companion animals who provide the political motivation for legislative change, contextualizing the role of companion animals within the concept of family and the future implications of this position. It compares the US approach with materials from other common law jurisdictions, illustrating how a number of existing laws support the claim that companion animals are already on the path to personhood. David Favre recommends model language for new animal friendly laws in addition to suggesting amendments to existing legislation including the US federal Animal Welfare Act. Forward thinking and innovative, this indispensable book will engage all those with an interest in the issues around enhanced welfare and rights for animals, including students, scholars, and lawyers involved in animal law, as well as leaders of non-profit organizations.

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.

A legal scholar and animal-rights expert argues for a practical approach to using animals respectfully. In this fresh approach to the animal rights debate, a legal scholar and expert on the humane treatment of animals argues for a middle ground between the extreme positions that often receive the most public attention. Professor Favre advocates an ethic of respectful use of animals, which finds it acceptable for humans to use animals within limited boundaries. He looks at various communities where humans and animals interact: homes, entertainment, commercial farms, local wildlife, and global wildlife. Balancing the interests of the animal against the interests of the human actor is considered in detail. The author examines the following questions, among others: Is it ethically acceptable to shoot your neighbor's dog for barking hours on end? Is it ethical for a zoo to keep a chimpanzee in an exhibit? Is it ethical to eat the meat of an animal? Finally, he discusses how good ethical outcomes can best be transported into the legal system. The author suggests the creation of a new legal category, living property, which would enhance the status of animals in the legal system. This thoughtful, well-argued, and elegantly written book provides readers with a comprehensive and practical context in which to consider their personal and social relationships with animals.

In this objective, practical and authoritative introductory text the author reveals how the fundamental principles of the human-animal relationship drive the development of animal law. The book explains the criteria by which the lawful use of animals is determined, and how these criteria impact evolving standards of animal protection and define the responsibilities of people in their interactions with animals. The author identifies 29 key principles which constitute the core knowledge necessary for people involved in debating, assessing, and guiding the evolution of society’s national and international rulebook of animal welfare law. The book also considers animal welfare and law in the context of a global market through discussion of common issues such as climate change, biosecurity, food safety and food supply. Based on successful law courses run by the author and his own expertise as an animal law lecturer, prosecutor and specialist legal adviser, the book combines insights from science, ethics and law to provide an essential understanding of what informs society and the law with regards to animals and their welfare.

What is the role of government in protecting animal welfare? What principles should policy makers draw on as they try to balance animal welfare against human liberty? Much has been written in recent years on our moral duties towards animals, but scholars and activists alike have neglected the important question of how far the state may go to enforce those duties. Kimberly K. Smith fills that gap by exploring how liberal political principles apply to animal welfare policy. Focusing on animal welfare in the United States, Governing Animals begins with an account of the historical relationship between animals and the development of the American liberal welfare state. It then turns to the central theoretical argument: Some animals (most prominently pets and livestock) may be considered members of the liberal social contract. That conclusion justifies limited state intervention to defend their welfare - even when such intervention may harm human citizens. Taking the analysis further, the study examines whether citizens may enjoy property rights in animals, what those rights entail, how animals may be represented in our political and legal institutions, and what strategies for reform are most compatible with liberal principles. The book takes up several policy issues along the way, from public funding of animal rescue operations to the ethics of livestock production, animal sacrifice, and animal fighting. Beyond even these specific policy questions, this book asks what sort of liberalism is suitable for the challenges of the twenty-first century. Smith argues that investigating the political morality of our treatment of animals gives us insight into how to design practices and institutions that protect the most vulnerable members of our society, thus making of our shared world a more fitting home for both humans and the nonhumans to which we are so deeply connected.