Animal Law Commons^™

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 …

An International Treaty For Animal Welfare, David Favre

Animal Law Review

Currently there is no international agreement that ensures the welfare and protection of animals. Nor is there any international standard that regulates and defines the acceptable treatment of animals. This lack of international consensus leads to the current disparate treatment of animals around the world, echoing the need for an international framework addressing the issue. This Article discusses a proposed umbrella treaty, the International Convention for the Protection of Animals (ICPA). This umbrella treaty would enable animal welfare issues to gain international recognition and protection by setting the general guidelines and polices regarding the treatment and use of animals. This …

Cage-Free, Free-Range, Organic? Why Animal Welfare Depends On A New Government Labeling Scheme, Tabitha N. Mitchell

Student Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Welfare Improvements For Organic Animals: Closing Loopholes In The Regulation Of Organic Animal Husbandry, Aurora Paulsen

Animal Law Review

For many consumers, farm animal welfare matters. To ensure the well-being of farm animals, consumers often pay premium prices for animal products with humane labels. Because “organic” is an example of a label presumed to convey information about animal husbandry practices, animal products with this label may offer an alternative to products from animals that were raised “conventionally” on large, industrialized farms with minimal welfare protections. The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and enacting regulations require that organic animals be able to engage in natural behaviors. However, many of the requirements are general and thus result in significant variations …

United States Food Law Update: Health Care Reform, Preemption, Labeling Claims And Unpaid Interns: The Latest Battles In Food Law, A. Bryan Endres, Nicholas R. Johnson, Michaela N. Tarr

Journal of Food Law & Policy

This edition of the Food Law Update explores four legal issues arising in the first half of 2010 reflective of the diverse nature of the food law specialist. As the national debate surrounding the merits of health care reform dominated the legislative agenda, this article first will discuss the food labeling rules embedded within section 4205 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The authors then analyze the preemptive reach of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Meat Inspection Act with respect to three separate California statutes regarding animal welfare standards, retail labels on …

Collective Bargaining As A Dispute-Reduction Vehicle Accommodating Contrary Animal Welfare Agendas, Michael N. Widener

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Should They Go The Way Of The Horse And Buggy? How The New York City Horse-Drawn Carriage Industry Has Survived Thirty Years Of Opposition, Katherine Hutchison

Animal Law Review

This Comment reviews the history of the horse-drawn carriage industry in New York City and details legislative efforts to regulate the business. Many cities in the United States feature horse-drawn carriages as a tourist attraction, but they are most associated with New York. The long-standing controversy over the working and living conditions of the horses that pull the cabs has garnered less national attention than other animal welfare issues, despite the fatalities and injuries suffered by the equines on traffic-choked Manhattan streets. Supporters of the industry defend it as an important contributor to the local economy, an iconic symbol of …

Labeling Of Credence Attributes In Livestock Production: Verifying Attributes Which Are More Than "Meet The Eye", Nicole J. Olynk, Christopher A. Wolf, Glynn T. Tonsor

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Americans are increasingly sensitive to the conditions under which the foods they purchase and consume are produced. It is becoming commonplace for consumers to incorporate perceived environmental impacts, animal welfare concerns, and other process attributes into food purchase decisions. Increased interest in production practices and technologies employed in food production has been seen in the U.S. specifically concerning irradiation, antibiotics, and hormone and pesticide use. Perhaps one of the most controversial technologies employed in food production today is the use of genetic engineering. Not surprisingly, consumers are particularly sensitive about practices employed or technologies used in foods produced specifically for …

A Call To Action: Concrete Proposals For Reducing Widespread Animal Suffering In The United States, Dana M. Campbell

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.

Speaking For The Modern Prometheus: The Significance Of Animal Suffering To The Abolition Movement, Elizabeth L. Decoux

Animal Law Review

There is a great divide in animal advocacy between Abolition and Welfare. Abolitionists seek to end the property status of animals. Welfarists, while acquiescing in the categorization of animals as property, seek to improve the conditions in which those animals live and die. Abolitionists have worked toward their goal for decades, and Welfarists toward theirs for centuries, but animals continue to suffer and die in ever-increasing numbers. This Article reviews the theories and methods of Abolitionists and Welfarists and suggests one reason that they have failed to relieve animal suffering and death: Welfarists use the right tool in the service …

The Game Of Conservation: International Treaties To Protect The World’S Migratory Animals, Mark Cioc

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

The Game of Conservation is a brilliantly crafted and highly readable examination of nature protection around the world.

Twentieth-century nature conservation treaties often originated as attempts to regulate the pace of killing rather than as attempts to protect animal habitat. Some were prompted by major breakthroughs in firearm techniques, such as the invention of the elephant gun and grenade harpoons, but agricultural development was at least as important as hunting regulations in determining the fate of migratory species. The treaties had many defects, yet they also served the goal of conservation to good effect, often saving key species from complete …

Animal Ethics And The Law, Bernard Rollin

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Everyone reading this Article is doubtless aware of the woeful lack of legal protection for farm animals in the United States. Not only do the laws fail to assure even a minimally decent life for the majority of these animals, they do not provide protection against the most egregious treatment. As both a philosopher who has helped articulate new emerging societal ethics for animals, and as one who has successfully developed laws embodying that ethic—notably the 1985 federal laws protecting laboratory animals—I will stress the direction we need to move in the future to enfranchise farm animals. I have seen …

The Environmental Effects Of Cruelty To Agricultural Animals, Kyle H. Landis-Marinello

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Laws criminalizing animal abuse should apply to the agricultural industry. When we exempt the agricultural industry from these laws, factory farms increase production to unnaturally high levels. This increased production causes devastating environmental effects, such as climate change, water shortages, and the loss of topsoil. In light of these effects, the law needs to do much more to regulate the agricultural industry, and the first step should be to criminalize cruelty to agricultural animals. This would force the industry to slow down production to more natural levels that are much less harmful to the environment.

"It's The Right Thing To Do": Why The Animal Agriculture Industry Should Not Oppose Science-Based Regulations Protecting The Welfare Of Animals Raised For Food, Angela J. Geiman

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Since the beginning of history, people have used farm animals to assist with their work and to provide a source of food. These agricultural pursuits were not questioned; rather, they were a widely-accepted way of life. In fact, many people still say that the very purpose of livestock on this Earth is to provide these resources for mankind. As for the proper way to treat our livestock, we commonly hear farmers and livestock producers make comments like, “If we take care of the animals, they will take care of us,” and, “We treat our animals well because that’s just good …

An Argument For The Basic Legal Rights Of Farmed Animals, Steven M. Wise

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The most abused beings in the United States are those whom we raise and kill for food. The numbers of dead are staggering. Most are victims of the severe and almost entirely unregulated practices that Americans permit on their factory farms. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2007, a total of 10.4 billion land-based animals were killed by the American food industry. These included 9.4 billion broiler chickens, 450 million laying hens, 317 million turkeys, 121 million pigs, 39 million bovines, 28 million ducks, 10 million rabbits, and 4 million sheep and goats—fifty …

Animal Cruelty Laws And Factory Farming, Joseph Vining

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

“Should laws criminalizing animal abuse apply to animals raised for food?” The answer is yes, and yes especially because farm animals are generally now under the control of business corporations. State and federal criminal law have proved critical in modifying corporate policy and practice in other areas, a current example being worker safety. Criminal liability today would include criminal liability of the corporate entity itself, and would thus also introduce the most effective regulation of individual handling of farm animals—regulation by the corporation, which has methods and resources public agencies cannot match. We have a background public policy of humane …

One Bad Day: Thoughts On The Difference Between Animal Rights And Animal Welfare, Neil D. Hamilton

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The lawsuit pitting the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals against the New Jersey Department of Agriculture brings into sharp focus the issue of animal rights versus animal welfare that has been dividing animal activists, farmers, and society for decades. On one side are proponents of animal rights—a set of rights articulated by humans but granted to animals to govern how we treat them. For many believers this includes the right not to be owned and certainly not to be eaten. On the other side are proponents of animal welfare—also a set of human derived standards …

A Case Study On Cruelty To Farm Animals: Lessons Learned From The Hallmark Meat Packing Case, Nancy Perry, Peter Brandt

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

“I need the public to understand that my office takes all cases involving animal cruelty very seriously . . . [and i]t doesn’t matter whether the mistreated animal is a beloved family pet or a cow at a slaughterhouse. Unnecessary cruelty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.” San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos (February 15, 2008) One morning in January 2008, images of horrific animal cruelty were blasted by Internet, television, and print media throughout the country. The story was all the more shocking in that the animals at …

Lessons Learned: Acting As Guardian/Special Master In The Bad Newz Kennels Case, Rebecca J. Huss

Law Faculty Publications

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia appointed Rebecca Huss as the guardian/special master of the pit bulls that were the subject of the case against Michael Vick relating to dog fighting. In April of 2007, the Surry County Sheriff's Department seized fifty-three pit bulls from Vick's home in Virginia. According to the facts set forth in the plea agreement, dogs on the property were killed and subjected to violent dog fights. Similar to human victims of abuse, the dogs needed someone to represent their best interests during litigation. Huss was in charge of determining whether …

Animal Testing In Cosmetics: Recent Developments In The European Union And The United States, Laura Donnellan

Animal Law Review

Animal welfare has become a recent issue in the policy of the European Union. Since the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957, the welfare of animals was only considered in relation to the proper functioning of the common market. Animals were seen as commodities whose interests were intertwined with agricultural and environmental policy. Over the years, the position has changed somewhat. Although a Treaty basis exists for animal welfare, the protection of animals has not yet been recognized as an important policy area of its own, and thus worthy of legal protection. As a positive step in …

Animal Experimentation: Lessons From Human Experimentation, Arthur Birmingham Lafrance

Animal Law Review

This article is adapted from the author's presentation during the panel discussion Animals in Research: Pet Cloning, Patents, and Bioethics at the 14th Annual Animal Law Conference of Lewis & Clark Law School on October 14, 2006.

Conventional wisdom tells us that animal experimentation is a relevant precursor to human experimentation. The failings of human experimentation to be more reliable, however, casts substantial doubt on the necessity and appropriateness of experimentation on animals. The federal government and medical community, since World War II, has used the Nuremberg Code and the “common rule” to determine how to ethically conduct human experimentation. …

Every Dog Can Have Its Day: Extending Liability Beyond The Seller By Defining Pets As "Products" Under Products Liability Theory, Jason Parent

Animal Law Review

Is a pet a “product”? A pet is a product for purposes of products liability law in some states, and, as this article will show, the remaining states should follow suit. Every year, thousands of “domesticated” animals are sold to consumers who are uninformed as to the animals’ propensities or to the proper method of animal care. In some instances, these animals are unreasonably dangerous in that they spread disease to humans or attack, and possibly kill, unwitting victims. Improper breeding and training techniques and negligence in sales have led to horrific injury. This comment will demonstrate how merely considering …

Progress In Animal Legislation: Measurement And Assessment, Andrew N. Rowan, Beth Rosen

State of the Animals 2005

As the animal movement has gained more political authority and public acceptance, it needs better ways to assess and follow its progress—or lack thereof—towards its goals. In this era, in which nonprofits and funding agencies are demanding better measures of effectiveness, the animal movement needs to examine how it looks at the progress it is (or is not) making in gaining better legal protection for animals.

Animal Welfare: Its Place In Legislation, Christopher Shays

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.

The World Trade Organisation Rules: A Legal Analysis Of Their Adverse Impact On Animal Welfare, Peter Stevenson

Animal Law Review

Mr. Stevenson analyzes the free trade rules of the World Trade Organisation and discusses their detrimental impact on certain measures designed to protect animals. Specifically, he discusses U.S. laws to safeguard dolphins and sea turtles, as well as proposed EU laws regarding leghold traps and cosmetic testing on animals. Mr. Stevenson provides an analysis of current WTO rule interpretation, identifies ways in which the rules should be reformed, and provides a less restrictive interpretation that would permit the existence of measures designed to improve animal welfare.

A Step At A Time: New Zealand's Progress Toward Homonid Rights, Rowan Taylor

Animal Law Review

All members of the Homindae Family (humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans) share complex cognitive aptitudes not shared by most other animals. Yet only human hominids have legal rights to life and personal security. The campaign to win fundamental rights for all hominids took a small but significant step forward in 1999 when New Zealand's Animal Welfare Act banned the use of non-human hominids in research, testing, and teaching except where such uses are in the hominids' best interests. In preventing human interests from trumping non-human ones, the Act took a first step toward dismantling speciesism within the hominid family. …

The Role Of Animals In Livable Communities, Earl Blumenauer

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.

2000 Legislative Review, Alicia Finigan

Animal Law Review

Our third Legislative Review reports the passage and de- feat of several state and federal, administrative and legislative actions. Ms. Laurie Fulkerson has researched and written on four major pieces of federal legislation; Mr. Chris Brown has discussed additional federal advances, and a re­view of state initiatives which both advance and undermine animal welfare; Ms. Amy Baggio has reviewed the passage of state anti-cruelty statues. Finally, Ms. Alicia Finigan has reported on the United State's Pelly Amendment certifica­tion of Japan for violating the International Whaling Com­mission's resolution to cease its illusory "research whaling" for minke, sperm and Bryde's whales.

Dead Dog Running: The Cruelty Of Greyhound Racing And The Bases For Its Abolition In Massachusetts, Erin N. Jackson

Animal Law Review

Under the guise of sport, greyhound racing persists in Massachusetts and sixteen other states, despite the industry's notoriety for animal abuse. The cruel practices employed in greyhound racing, including the culling of litters; the use of live lures in training; the provision of substandard living conditions and care; and the systemic, premature killing of greyhounds bear undeniable likeness to the barbarity perpetrated in the illicit animal fighting sports of bullfighting, dogfighting, and cockfighting. Yet, greyhound racing masquerades in the Commonwealth as an innocuous pastime, even though the industry-wide, calculated refusal to provide care for and consequent killing of throngs of …

Animal Welfare Law In Canada And Europe, Elaine L. Hughes, Christiane Meyer

Animal Law Review

The idea that animals are entities that deserve protection, irrespective of their utility to man, is firmly grounded in the Enlightenment. The principle that a creature's need for considerate treatment did not depend on the possession of a soul or the ability to reason, but on the capacity to feel pain was formulated and debated at that time. The debate continues today-Canada is in the midst of examining its own ethical, philosophical and legal beliefs about animal welfare and cruelty. This article examines the current state of animal welfare and cruelty laws and recent attempts through federal legislation to modernize …