Journal of Animal Law Vol 5.pdf (1.68 MB)
Published by the students of Michigan State University College of Law
Journal of Animal Law Vol. V (2009)
The table of contents is provided below.
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JOURNAL OF ANIMAL LAW
VOL . V 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Animal Ethics and Breed-Specific Legislation
Bernard E. Rollin, Ph.D....................................................................1
This paper offers a conceptual analysis of the ethics of breed-specific legislation. It discusses the public’s ethical concern for the treatment of animals. It also asks whether it is ethical to regulate animals (i.e. pit-bulls) based on their breeds, rather than on their individual behavior. Additionally, it explores the effects of breed-specific legislation on the companionship between animals and man.
Should People of Color Support Animal Rights?
Angela P. Harris..............................................................................15
There is anecdotal reason to believe that many people of color – in particular, African Americans – view animals rights as a "white" phenomenon. Taking the case study of a PETA campaign that compared animal abuse to the Atlantic slave trade, the author explores reasons why people of color might be justified in seeing the animal rights movement as incorporating racist stereotypes, but concludes that people of color ought to support an anti-racist version of animal rights.
Animal Equality, Human Dominion, and Fundamental Interdependence
Tucker Culbertson...........................................................................33
In this article, I argue for advocacy which emphasizes the fallacy of human dominion rather than the propriety of "animals’ rights." Such advocacy would lead beyond unfortunately retrogressive debates over the similarities and differences among human and other animals, and could advance a jurisprudence of constitutional duties not triggered by another’s constitutional rights. Moreover, disestablishing myths of human dominion would unsettle troubling elements of liberal constitutionalism in the United States and elsewhere – namely, rigid constructions of state sovereignty and individual subjectivity – which often derive from the very myths of human dominion that also justify inhuman animals’ subordination. Disestablishing human dominion in the interest of inhuman animals can thus draw upon and advance the ongoing development of an affirmative anti-subordination jurisprudence under the 14th Amendment of the Reconstruction Constitution’s enfranchisement of a radical constitutional subject – the person – which includes but is not limited to members of the human species.
A New Call to Arms or a New Coat of Arms?: The Animal Rights and Environmentalism Debate in Australia
Olivia Khoo.....................................................................................49
There has been popular and political support in Australia in recent years towards a consideration of environmental issues, most notably in the form of a proposed carbon emissions trading scheme. In the midst of this widespread ‘call to arms’ to enact policy to regulate environmental issues, animal welfare continues to be ignored despite the important link between animal welfare and environmental concerns. If it is considered at all, animal welfare is often viewed as antagonistic or marginal to environmental matters. This paper examines the relationship between animal welfare and emerging environmental policies in Australia. It asks whether animal welfare can be reconciled with these nascent environmental concerns and questions whether there should be a corresponding ‘call to arms’ respecting animal welfare in Australia.
Wildlife and the Brazilian Abolitionist Movement
Heron José de Santana Gordilho....................................................71
This paper aims to contribute to the ethical debate on the relationship between humans and animals and demonstrate that the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 has already elevated animals to the level of legal subjects, able to enjoy and exercise basic rights. It initially analyses the moral grounding of speciesism which claims that animals lack spirituality and therefore puts the interests of mankind above those of other species, and departing from Darwin’s theory of evolution show us the actual evidence of this ideology. After this, it analyses the change in the wildlife legal status, from nobody’s thing ( res nulium ) to legal subject, as occurred in the case chimpanzee Swiss vs Salvador Zoo. This was the first case that recognised a chimpanzee as a plaintiff that achieved standing in a court of law through representatives The main focus of the study is to offer a legal interpretation to include wildlife on to the list of those entities without legal personhood who possess basic rights and standing to come before a court of law through representatives or legal substitutes.
Le gal Prot ec tion of A nimals: T h e Basi c s
Eleanor Evertsen and Wim De Kok................................................91
In 2005 the Dutch Minister of Agriculture announced his intention to draft a new law in which all aspects of animal health and animal welfare would be covered and to cancel the Animal Health and Welfare Act. The working title for this project is "Animals Act". Dutch animal protection organizations argue that before a new law is introduced, fundamental ethical and legal principles should be agreed upon. A coalition of more than twenty organizations (CDON) drew up a concept General Animal Protection Act covering the basics of legal protection of animals and their welfare, which should be used in drafting any new animal related legislation.
NOTES & COMMENTS
Fido Goes to the Lab: Amending the Animal Welfare Act to Require Animal Rescue Facilities to Disclose Pound Seizure Practices to Pet Owners
Juli Danielle Gilliam .................................................................... 103
Many people are unaware that animals surrendered to pounds can be sold to laboratories for use in experiments under the practice of pound seizure. This paper seeks to discuss the lack of protection under current law for pet owners and animals subject to pound seizure. It argues that current law needs to be amended to require pounds to disclose to pet owners that their pets may be subject to seizure. It offers a proposed amendment to current law that would require both disclosure of the potential for seizure and consent that the surrendered pet is subject to seizure.
That’s Ok, It’s Only A Rental: The Business of Renting Dogs
Rachit Anand.................................................................................129
Dogs are an integral part of our society today. While the benefits arising from dog ownership are widely accepted, proper care of a dog is also time consuming and can be expensive. This paper presents the concept of renting dogs as a substitute for permanent dog ownership and specifically details the business practices of Flexpetz, Inc., a for-profit company that provides such a rental service. Given the possibility of negative physical and emotional effects on the dogs that may flow from being involved in a "renting" business, the paper surveys various anti-cruelty and animal welfare laws (Federal, State, and in the United Kingdom) which, if applicable, would greatly restrain the practice of renting dogs or prohibit it altogether.
2008-2009 Case Law Review
Anna Baumgras.............................................................................153