Law Commons^™

Animal Rights: From Why To How, Joan Schaffner, Sherry F. Colb, Michael C. Dorf, David Favre, Lori Gruen, Angela P. Harris, Dale Jamieson

Animal Law Review

On January 9, 2016, the Association of American Law Schools hosted a panel by the Section on Animal Law in New York City. The panel featured legal professionals, scholars, and experts from various disciplines who discussed strategies for securing legal rights for animals. The panel explored what the animal rights movement can learn from other social movements, which legal approaches are available to animal advocates, and the need for non-legal strategies to change cultural attitudes. This panel moves beyond the discussion of whether animals have rights, and addresses the important questions and potential strategies for improving the lives of non-human …

Animal Dignity, Reed Elizabeth Loder

Animal Law Review

The aim of this Article is to find a broader theoretical basis for animal protection than the current ideas of personhood and capabilities provide. Human dignity is variously defined but pervasive in grounding human rights and should have a counterpart for animal protection beyond minimum welfare that can improve the quality of animal lives overall. Dignity has an inward dimension based on the value of an individual that should not be violated and an outward aspect in the individual’s bearing to the world, both of which apply to animals. In content, human individuals have dignity in autonomously directing their lives, …

Front Matter

Animal Law Review

Front Matter includes Title Page, Masthead, advisors, and Table of Contents for Animal Law Review Volume 22, Issue 2, 2016.

Extra! Extra! New Housing Developments Lead Coyotes To Homelessness And Violence With Humans, Joseph Simpson

Animal Law Review

As city sprawl spreads into less-developed rural regions, these new residents enjoy living close to nature but also put their pets and children at risk of encountering dangerous wildlife, such as coyotes. Cities have a variety of options, legal and otherwise, to regulate human and coyote behavior in order to reduce conflict. This Article analyzes the situation in the cities of Chino Hills and Yorba Linda, two southern California communities on the edge of Chino Hills State Park that have received local media attention for human–coyote interactions. Growing cities can use zoning to separate coyotes from humans and avoid drawing …

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

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 Federal Legislative Review, Alescia Dichmann

Animal Law Review

The American political newspaper, The Hill, named the 114th Congress as “the most diverse Congress ever set to take power.” This Congress has 108 female lawmakers, more than ever before, alongside 430 men as well as 46 African American and 33 Hispanic lawmakers. While this Congress has made strides in the diversity of its members, we have yet to see whether this Congress’s legislative activity will benefit animals. The fate of the proposed animal legislation discussed in this Review will ultimately be decided by the time this 114th Congress concludes in 2017.

Nutraceuticals In American Horseracing: Removing The Substantive Blinkers From National Racing Legislation, Conor R. Crawford

Animal Law Review

American horseracing is governed by thirty-eight independent state racing jurisdictions. The lack of one coordinated rulebook has been especially problematic with respect to controlled substances. Industry leaders and legal scholars ubiquitously decry American racing’s “drug addiction.” The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and Thoroughbred Horseracing Integrity Act of 2015 respond to this charge by purporting to regulate drugs and medication under federal auspices. This Note contends, however, that the bills’ blinkered focus on drugs problematically ignores nutraceuticals: a class of pharmaceutical-food supplements that poses a greater existential threat to horseracing.

In a 1996 Federal Register notice, the FDA announced that …

Home Is Where The Dog Is: A Discussion Of Homeless People And Their Pets, Zanna Shafer

Animal Law Review

This Article looks at the trials and tribulations homeless people face when they own pets. It establishes the three main types of pets the homeless population owns: companion animals, service animals, and emotional support animals. The Article then goes on to analyze the problems the homeless face associated with each type of animal ownership. The Article primarily draws from Leslie Irvine’s novel, My Dog Always Eats First: Homeless People and Their Animals. Irvine’s novel relays first-hand experiences of the homeless individuals’ interactions with animals and the difficulties they face by having them. The Article addresses homeless dog owners’ hardships in …

Paws Up, Don't Shoot: Preventing Officer-Involved Shootings Of Companion Canines, Elizabeth Olsen

Animal Law Review

This Article discusses situations in which an officer has shot a companion canine, and evaluates the efficacy of the different potential civil claims that an owner may have against the individual officer, his supervisor, the department, or the municipality. It then goes on to suggest that the relief granted, even for successful claims, is insufficient to alter municipal policies governing officer’s interactions with canines because such relief is typically retrospective in nature. Additionally, this Article discusses the serious problems that arise in relying on civil litigation as a mechanism for addressing officer-involved canine companion shootings because of the status of …

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 …

America's Invaders: The Nile Monitor And The Ineffectiveness Of The Reactive Response To Invasive Species, William K. Norvell Iii

Animal Law Review

In response to an ever increasing level of environmental devastation caused by invasive species and the resultant concerns for ecological preservation, both the state and federal governments have passed legislation to combat this pressing issue. In this Note, the author evaluates the effectiveness of these reactive and proactive policies in the United States. The author also analyzes the successful, proactive invasive species legislation from Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, and then contrasts them to the failing, mainly reactive laws found in the United States. Despite these shortcomings, the author concludes that it is entirely possible for the United …

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 …

Front Matter

Animal Law Review

Front Matter includes Title Page, Masthead, advisors, and Table of Contents for Animal Law Review Volume 23, Issue 1, 2017.

Agroterrorism, Resilience, And Indoor Farming, Nathalie N. Prescott

Animal Law Review

Agroterrorism poses a significant threat to food supplies and the stability of agricultural markets. The industrialization of agricultural has substantially improved productivity and efficiency, but has also contributed to the sector’s declining resilience— the ability to withstand and adapt to stress and change. Consequently, agriculture has become increasingly vulnerable to possible agroterrorist attacks. However, by working to increase biodiversity and minimize the connected and concentrated nature of agricultural production, the industry can lower its vulnerability to attack. Indoor agriculture may be one way to accomplish this goal. This Article describes indoor agriculture, explains the concept of agroterrorism, and explores the …

What Can Animal Law Learn From Environmental Law?, Rachel Lamb, Tara Zuardo

Animal Law Review

This Review analyzes and synopsizes What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law?, edited by Professor Randall S. Abate. The book is a compilation of writings by numerous professionals in the fields of animal and environmental law. This Review introduces the background of the book and those sections most relevant to animal law. The book is divided into four distinct units, and this Review addresses each in turn: (1) Introductory Context, (2) U.S. Law Contexts, (3) International and Comparative Law Contexts, and (4) Vision for the Future. This Review ends by illustrating how academic settings can benefit from the use …