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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Confines Of Federalism On Farmed Animal Welfare, Miranda Groh
The Confines Of Federalism On Farmed Animal Welfare, Miranda Groh
Animal Law Review
Although farmed animal advocates have achieved some protection for animals through state and local laws, Congress’s constitutional authority to preempt state law and regulate interstate commerce poses a significant threat to those achievements. Additionally, the practical constraints of the United States’ interconnected food system suggest that national, uniform standards are more desirable than a state-by-state, piecemeal approach to animal welfare. Despite the potential benefits of a state-by-state approach and some obstacles faced at the federal level, this Article argues that long-lasting legal protections for farmed animals should ultimately come from Congress, and that animal advocates should concentrate their efforts there. …
Better Science, Fewer Animals: Catalyzing Nih Grant Making To Improve Biomedical Research And Meet Societal Goals, Mikalah Singer, Paul Locke
Better Science, Fewer Animals: Catalyzing Nih Grant Making To Improve Biomedical Research And Meet Societal Goals, Mikalah Singer, Paul Locke
Animal Law Review
Animal models are currently the “gold standard” in biomedical research. However, new approaches that do not involve the use of nonhuman animals are evolving to address the public health and medical challenges for which animal models are less well suited. These alternatives represent important advancements and are being recognized as significant advances. There is a clear societal need to encourage such efforts, and there is widespread support to move away from animal-based research by the American public. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds the majority of biomedical research in the United States and should be a key player in …
Animal Welfare Consumer Protection Litigation: Challenges And Possibilities For Bringing About More "Humane" Labeling Practices, Jaycie Thaemert
Animal Welfare Consumer Protection Litigation: Challenges And Possibilities For Bringing About More "Humane" Labeling Practices, Jaycie Thaemert
Animal Law Review
Consumer protection claims have become a critical tool for animal welfare advocates to attack the misrepresentations that animal agriculture producers make about the humane treatment of their animals. Currently, these claims are an important accountability mechanism, as “humane” labeling standards have not been adopted on the federal level. As consumers become increasingly focused on making ethical food-purchasing decisions, consumer protection claim lawsuits have become more and more successful, drawing the attention of attorneys within and outside of the animal welfare movement. The primary limitation of consumer protection claims in the animal welfare space is that these lawsuits do not actually …
Privacy In The Wild: Why Animals' Informational Privacy Matters, Christopher Wlach
Privacy In The Wild: Why Animals' Informational Privacy Matters, Christopher Wlach
Animal Law Review
As data privacy and security come increasingly into focus among lawmakers, regulators, companies, and consumers, concerns about animals’ privacy have gone largely unmentioned. This Article examines how both wild and domestic animals have informational privacy interests—that is, interests in protecting information about themselves. The Article discusses three examples of how informational privacy for animals is not merely a theoretical concept but directly relates to animals’ broader welfare interests. Finally, this Article discusses why privacy provides a helpful theoretical framework and vocabulary for addressing these animals’ interests.
Paid In Full: Interpreting And Defining "Market Value" Under The Lacey Act, Max Birmingham
Paid In Full: Interpreting And Defining "Market Value" Under The Lacey Act, Max Birmingham
Animal Law Review
There is a circuit split on the definition of “market value” under the Lacey Act. Courts disagree whether the price of hunting guide services should be factored into calculating the market value of the wildlife hunted. But the purpose of the Lacey Act suggests a broad interpretation of market value which includes guide services. This Article proposes amending the Lacey Act to make clear the definition of market value in keeping with its original purpose.
It Takes A Village To Protect Its Pets: How To Empower Local Community Organizations In The Fight For Companion Animal Rights, Danielle Maddox Kinchen
It Takes A Village To Protect Its Pets: How To Empower Local Community Organizations In The Fight For Companion Animal Rights, Danielle Maddox Kinchen
Animal Law Review
This Note aims to provide a guide for state law reforms to ease the responsibility on southern states’ shelter, rescue, and foster systems. It employs a three-pronged strategy to address two main challenges for homeless companion animals—overpopulation and unprosecuted animal cruelty. The United States euthanizes an estimated 1.5 million companion animals annually in its companion animal shelters, largely due to overpopulation, and the South plays an exponentially larger role in this statistic than the North, with some southern cities annually euthanizing hundreds of thousands of companion animals each. Approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter shelters each year, and in addition …
The Animal Welfare Act At Fifty Conference At Harvard Law School Introduction, Delcianna Winders
The Animal Welfare Act At Fifty Conference At Harvard Law School Introduction, Delcianna Winders
Animal Law Review
Delcianna Winders introduces the Animal Welfare Act at Fifty Conference.
Animal Welfare Act: Welfare Standards, Cathy Liss, Kimberly Ockene, Naomi Rose, Georgia Hancock Snusz, Anna Frostic
Animal Welfare Act: Welfare Standards, Cathy Liss, Kimberly Ockene, Naomi Rose, Georgia Hancock Snusz, Anna Frostic
Animal Law Review
Cathy Liss discusses the changes to the standards after the 1985 Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals amendment to the AWA and the emphasis of performance standards that were implemented. Kimberly Ockene discusses the AWA regulations for commercial dog breeders and a petition for rulemaking that seeks to enhance these regulations. Naomi A. Rose and Georgia Hancock Snusz discuss captive marine mammals and their coverage under the AWA. Lastly, Anna Frostic speaks about public handling of exotic animals held at licensed exhibitors, which are regulated under the Act.
Animal Welfare Act: Interaction With Other Laws, Ani B. Satz, Delcianna Winders
Animal Welfare Act: Interaction With Other Laws, Ani B. Satz, Delcianna Winders
Animal Law Review
Ani B. Satz discusses the interaction of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) with state laws, specifically focusing on perceived preemptive effects of the AWA on state anti-cruelty laws. Delcianna Winders discusses how these perceived preemptive effects play out on a federal level, focusing on how the AWA interacts with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). She expands upon how both laws apply to captive animals, who have been identified as threatened or endangered under the ESA.
Animal Welfare Act: Excluded Animals, Michael Mcfadden, Sue Leary, Kathy Hessler
Animal Welfare Act: Excluded Animals, Michael Mcfadden, Sue Leary, Kathy Hessler
Animal Law Review
Michael McFadden discusses the Animal Welfare Act’s exclusion of farmed animals and possible reasons for their exclusion. He then briefly discusses welfare problems faced by farmed animals. He ends by describing the various ways in which consumers are showing increasing concern for farmed animals and how consumers, especially millennial consumers, are poised to force the agricultural industry to improve conditions for farmed animals. Sue Leary recounts the history of efforts to include rats, mice, and birds, in the AWA. Next, she explains the historical and contemporary issues with including common laboratory research animals under animal protection laws. She ends her …
Animal Welfare Act: Enforcement, Delcianna Winders, Varu Chilakamarri
Animal Welfare Act: Enforcement, Delcianna Winders, Varu Chilakamarri
Animal Law Review
Delcianna Winders discusses the Animal Welfare Act and how the United States Department of Agriculture enforces it. She also provides a critique of the USDA’s enforcement of the AWA, with particular attention to its heavy reliance on warnings and discounted penalties, which in many cases fail to deter regulated entities from violating the AWA. Varu Chilakamarri discusses how animal welfare issues are incorporated into the work of the Department of Justice (DOJ). She provides an overview of the AWA, noting the specific sections that provide for federal court review. Chilakamarri also discusses some of the programmatic steps the DOJ has …
The Beginning Of The End For Belugas In Captivity In The United States, Megan E. Boyd
The Beginning Of The End For Belugas In Captivity In The United States, Megan E. Boyd
Animal Law Review
Beluga whales have been displayed in aquariums and zoos for decades, but the end of captive beluga displays in the United States is near, thanks to Georgia Aquarium v. Pritzker. In 2012, the Georgia Aquarium, on behalf of members of the beluga cooperative breeding program, applied to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for a special permit allowing the breeding cooperative to import eighteen beluga whales from Russia. After NMFS denied the permit, the Aquarium brought suit, arguing that NMFS’s denial was arbitrary and capricious and that without an influx of belugas, the United States captive beluga whale breeding program …
Animal Welfare Act: Related Litigation And Other Efforts, Joyce Tischler, Valerie Stanley, Jenni James, Kathy Meyer
Animal Welfare Act: Related Litigation And Other Efforts, Joyce Tischler, Valerie Stanley, Jenni James, Kathy Meyer
Animal Law Review
Joyce Tischler discusses the background of the Animal Welfare Act from the 1971 definitional change of the term “animal” to the 1985 Amendment for improved standards. Her organization, Animal Legal Defense Fund, was the first to litigate the AWA’s terms and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s regulations. Valerie Stanley expands upon the 1985 Amendment’s requirements regarding primates and the regulatory struggles Animal Legal Defense Fund faced therein. Jenni James discusses Article III standing and the difficulties in getting into court due to a general reluctance to recognize plaintiffs as satisfying standing under the AWA. She also discusses the courts preference …
Animal Rights In The Shadow Of The Constitution, Ariel L. Bendor, Hadar Dancig-Rosenberg
Animal Rights In The Shadow Of The Constitution, Ariel L. Bendor, Hadar Dancig-Rosenberg
Animal Law Review
In this Article, we consider whether granting constitutional protections can improve animal welfare. To that end, we carry out a comparative analysis of legal systems that protect animal rights by constitutional tools, identify and analyze the ideas underlying those protections, and explore their adaptability. Focusing mainly on the Israeli case, we argue that constitutional law cannot provide adequate protections for animals and, contrary to the conventional wisdom, might even impair their protection.
'Ruff' Justice: Canine Cases And Judicial Law Making As An Instrument Of Change, Richard Jochelson, James Gacek
'Ruff' Justice: Canine Cases And Judicial Law Making As An Instrument Of Change, Richard Jochelson, James Gacek
Animal Law Review
The regulation of animals in North America should be apprised of evolving socialities. As the judiciary encounters situations of contestation between humans and animals in adjudication, it should take notice of the emergence of animal recognition in Western societies. Law is apprised of sociality, can absorb social information, and may, at times, reflect how citizens view issues of justice. What was once innocent behavior can be reconstituted as criminal through the adjudicative exercise (and vice versa). In this Paper, we investigate socio-legal constructions of ‘the animal’ in two recent North American adjudications. In two recent cases, R. v. D.L.W. and …
Bearing Witness: Is Giving Thirsty Pigs Water Criminal Mischief Or A Duty?, Anita Krajnc
Bearing Witness: Is Giving Thirsty Pigs Water Criminal Mischief Or A Duty?, Anita Krajnc
Animal Law Review
No abstract provided.
Red Wolf Coalition V. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission: Better Red Than Dead, Edward A. Fitzgerald
Red Wolf Coalition V. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission: Better Red Than Dead, Edward A. Fitzgerald
Animal Law Review
This Article demonstrates how federal district court decisions have protected the threatened red wolf. The history of red wolf introduction and the Fourth Circuit decision in Gibbs v. Babbitt are reviewed. In 2012, North Carolina allowed coyote hunting in the red wolf recovery area. The District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina correctly issued an injunction stopping the action. The court held North Carolina set in motion events that led to the killing of red wolves and violated federal regulations regarding the taking of red wolves. The resulting settlement agreement precluded state interference with red wolf recovery. Genetic …
Telling Tails: The Promises And Pitfalls Of Language And Narratives In Animal Advocacy Efforts, Angela Lee
Telling Tails: The Promises And Pitfalls Of Language And Narratives In Animal Advocacy Efforts, Angela Lee
Animal Law Review
Using a feminist theoretical perspective and drawing on examples from Canada and the United States, this Article considers the promises and pitfalls of language and narrative in the context of animal advocacy efforts. Because the animal advocacy movement faces an uphill battle on a number of fronts, leveraging language and narrative more conscientiously can help enhance its success. Elucidating the equivocal nature of the premises on which our current social and legal conceptualization of nonhuman animals lies can prompt a shift in the dominant modes of thjnking about nonhuman animals, thereby stimulating meaningful change in their treatment. However, it is …
Changing Humanity: Fifteen Years Of Progress In Animal Welfare And Protection, Earl Blumenauer
Changing Humanity: Fifteen Years Of Progress In Animal Welfare And Protection, Earl Blumenauer
Animal Law Review
This Introduction outlines policy and societal changes in animal welfare over the last fifteen years. Covering the areas of industrial meat production and the treatment of farm animals, domesticated animals and cruelty, animal testing and laboratory animals, and protection of native species here and around the world, the Introduction documents meaningful policy achievements in each area, as well as accompanying and continuing societal efforts to improve outcomes for animal welfare in the United States and across the world. In addition, the Introduction documents current and future opportunities in the U.S. Congress and in local, national, and international policy to continue …
An Assessment Of Recent Trade Law Developments From An Animal Law Perspective: Trade Law As The Sheep In Wolf's Clothing?, Charlotte Blattner
An Assessment Of Recent Trade Law Developments From An Animal Law Perspective: Trade Law As The Sheep In Wolf's Clothing?, Charlotte Blattner
Animal Law Review
Further development within the field of animal law seems to be at an impasse, lost among the potential paths presented by its traditional influences: international treaty law, domestic animal welfare regulations, and trade law. First, classical elements of global animal treaty law are limited to preservationist aspirations, insusceptible to the questions of how animals are treated or how they cope with their environment. Second, animal welfare regulation is understood as a matter confined to national territories. In cross-border dialogue, animal matters have been reduced to allegations of imperialism, which is not conducive to furthering animal interests. Third, animals are regarded …
Legal Protection Of Animal Dignity In Switzerland: Status Quo And Future Perspectives, Gieri Bolliger
Legal Protection Of Animal Dignity In Switzerland: Status Quo And Future Perspectives, Gieri Bolliger
Animal Law Review
Swiss law protects not only the well-being but also the dignity of animals. Since 1992, animal dignity protection has been a constitutional principle in Switzerland, and a main purpose of the national Animal Welfare Act since 2008. The animal dignity concept is still unique in the world and represents a biocentric expansion of Swiss law granting animals a moral value, irrespective of their sentience. This signifies protection for an animal’s inherent worth, including ethical aspects that are not necessarily associated with any physical and physiological injury, such as protection from humiliation, excessive instrumentalization, and substantial interference with an animal’s appearance …
2015 State Legislative Review, Malorie Sneed, Jessica Brockway
2015 State Legislative Review, Malorie Sneed, Jessica Brockway
Animal Law Review
The past year’s state legislative sessions and court dockets bore witness to a wide variety of initiatives concerning animal welfare and animal issues more generally. The increasing prevalence of ag-gag bills continued in 2015, as Colorado attempted to pass a mandatory reporting bill and North Carolina passed its own ag-gag bill that applied to all businesses, not just agricultural facilities, over the governor’s veto. Animal welfare advocates had reason to celebrate this year, however, when the district court of Idaho overturned its ag-gag bill on constitutional grounds. Tennessee, in amending its “Good Samaritan” law to extend coverage to animals trapped …
Giving Slaughterhouses Glass Walls: A New Direction In Food Labeling And Animal Welfare, Zak Franklin
Giving Slaughterhouses Glass Walls: A New Direction In Food Labeling And Animal Welfare, Zak Franklin
Animal Law Review
Modern industrial animal agriculture and consumer purchasing patterns do not match consumers' moral preferences regarding animal welfare. Current production methods infiict a great deal of harm on animals despite widespread consumer preference for meat, dairy, and eggs that come from humanely treated animals. Judging by the premium pricing and market shares of food products with moral or special labels (e.g., 'cage-free,' 'free range,' and 'organic'), many consumers are willing to pay more for less harmful products, but they are unable to determine which products match this preference. The labels placed on animal products, and the insufficient government oversight of these …
You Don't Own Me: Feral Dogs And The Question Of Ownership, Stacy A. Nowicki
You Don't Own Me: Feral Dogs And The Question Of Ownership, Stacy A. Nowicki
Animal Law Review
Feral dogs occupy an ambiguous position, challenging standard categories of domestication, wildness, and property ownership. This ambiguity, in turn, complicates the legal status of feral dogs. Feral dogs' property status is particularly critical, as whether a feral dog is owned by someone, or no one at all, hold implications not only for civil and criminal liability in incidents involving feral dogs, but also the legal ability of animal rescue organizations to intervene in the lives of feral dogs. Part II of this Article summarizes the application of property law to animals, particularly highlighting the role played by an animal's status …
2012 Federal Legislative Review, Carolyn Greenshields, Kimberly White Laduca
2012 Federal Legislative Review, Carolyn Greenshields, Kimberly White Laduca
Animal Law Review
No abstract provided.
Bullhooks And The Law: Is Pain And Suffering The Elephant In The Room?, Trevor J. Smith
Bullhooks And The Law: Is Pain And Suffering The Elephant In The Room?, Trevor J. Smith
Animal Law Review
In the United States, violent use of “bullhooks”—sharpened, steel-tipped rods—on captive elephants at carnivals, circuses, and zoos is all too routine. Yet animal-welfare advocates struggle to protect elephants from the (mis)use of bullhooks under the current regulatory regime. At the federal level, advocates cannot consistently rely on either the Animal Welfare Act or the Endangered Species Act, due to these statutes’ narrow provisions, standing limitations, and inconsistent enforcement. State animal-protection laws are equally deficient, as only two states have defined suffering and abuse clearly enough in their statutes to enable effective prosecution of elephant mistreatment, and plaintiffs in even these …
Empowering Market Regulation Of Agricultural Animal Welfare Through Product Labeling, Sean P. Sullivan
Empowering Market Regulation Of Agricultural Animal Welfare Through Product Labeling, Sean P. Sullivan
Animal Law Review
In many Western nations, rising public concern about the welfare of agricultural animals is reflected in the adoption of direct regulatory standards governing the treatment of these animals. The United States has taken a different path, tending to rely on a “market-regulation” approach whereby consumers express their desire for specific welfare practices through their purchasing decisions. This Article explores the failure of market regulation and the welfare-preference paradox posed by consumers who express a strong preference for improved animal welfare in theory, but who simultaneously fail to demand heightened welfare standards in practice. It argues that market regulation is failing …
Meat Labeling Through The Looking Glass, Bruce Friedrich
Meat Labeling Through The Looking Glass, Bruce Friedrich
Animal Law Review
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates meat labeling under the statutory authority of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA). The FMIA’s labeling preemption clause prohibits labeling requirements beyond federal requirements, and would thus preclude state causes of action on the basis of deceptive labels that were properly approved under federal law. Through the eyes of Kat, a hypothetical consumer concerned with the origins of the meat she purchases for her family, this Article argues that consumers should be able to pursue state law claims based on fraudulent animal welfare labels on packages of meat. This is true for …
Legislation To Protect The Welfare Of Fish, Kelly Levenda
Legislation To Protect The Welfare Of Fish, Kelly Levenda
Animal Law Review
This Article examines the marginalization of fish under current animal welfare laws and regulations, explores the treatment of farm-raised fish during transport and slaughter, and proposes legislation and regulations in these two areas. While evidence indicates that fish are capable of experiencing pain, fear, and suffering—the traditional considerations informing concepts of animal welfare—current pre-slaughter transport and slaughter practices are completely uninformed by notions of fish welfare. Comparing the cognitive and sensory capacities of fish to other animals currently receiving animal welfare recognition through official regulation, this Article argues that protections afforded to animals during transport and slaughter should similarly apply …
Coalitions In The Jungle: Advancing Animal Welfare Through Challenges To Concentration In The Meat Industry, Lis Kamila
Coalitions In The Jungle: Advancing Animal Welfare Through Challenges To Concentration In The Meat Industry, Lis Kamila
Animal Law Review
The meat processing conglomerates that currently control the majority of the market share in the meatpacking industry are responsible for its most systemic animal abuses. Increased concentration has enabled these larger processors to dictate animal treatment standards maintained by meat producers, most of whom have caved to economic pressure and moved their animals from small farms into Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Animal welfare proponents have failed to adequately challenge the concentration of the meat industry and in 2012 have yet to fully explore strategies made available by the Packers & Stockyards Act of 1921 (PSA). This Article proposes that a …