Justin Marceau’s ground-breaking work challenges a widely held belief within the animal protection movement: that more severe criminal punishments against animal abusers advance protections for animals. The book persuasively argues that the movement should pause to consider whether these efforts to implement tougher sentences for animal abuse are in fact effective, or morally justifiable. Marceau reflects on the animal protection movement in the United States by considering the work of animal advocates to alongside other struggles for social justice. In […]
Illinois recently became the third U.S. state to ban animal testing, after California and Nevada passed similar legislation in the past year. The passing of bill SB 241 is a huge accomplishment and, hopefully, a step towards reducing the number of animals used for research purposes. Last month, SB 241 passed in the legislature, and with the governor’s approval became Public Act 101-0303, which amends the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. This new Act sets out that it is […]
The Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC) is one of just a handful of locations where gorillas still roam freely in the wild. In fact, the Grauer’s gorilla subspecies, or eastern lowland gorilla, is only found in the eastern DRC. According to the WWF, Gorillas share 98.3% of their DNA with humans, making them our closest cousins after bonobos and chimpanzees, with shocking intellectual and emotional similarities to humans. But gorillas have been decreasing in number for decades. A 2010 […]
This is the final piece in a series focusing on the female lawyers featured in the multimedia documentary project Unbound, co-founded by acclaimed photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur (We Animals, The Ghosts in Our Machine) and Dr Keri Cronin (Department of Visual Arts, Brock University). Find out more at unboundproject.org In Canada, as elsewhere, the field of animal law is burgeoning. Here, we speak with three exceptional lawyers, all committed vegans, who use the law as a tool for animal liberation. Lesli Bisgould is a […]
When the film “Free Willy” played in cinemas in 1993, animal lovers celebrated the scene where Willy, an orca long held in captivity, finally broke free. This captivating, uplifting climax of the film saw Willy leaping through the water, through the air, and over his young human friend as he shouted “Go Willy!” After a lifetime of being captive in a small tank, forced to entertain the public day in, day out, this magnificent whale was finally free. Soon, whales […]
Animal sentience broadly refers to the ability of animals to feel, for example, by experiencing pain, pleasure, or suffering. Scientific literature generally accepts that all vertebrate species are sentient, and increasing research shows that invertebrate species are also sentient.[1] As early as the 1800s, Darwin proposed that some animals were capable of self-consciousness, a trait previously assumed to be solely human. Research has since shown that animals including dolphins, elephants, and magpies are capable of mirror self-recognition.[2] Despite the extensive […]
Each month we will be featuring a ‘Book of the month.’ We will be selecting from books about animals that our readership finds interesting and informative. If you come across an interesting animal related book (science, law, ethics, policy or simply general interest) please send us your nomination along with the reasons for your choice. This month’s book is Fellow Creatures: Our Obligations to the Other Animals, by Christine M. Korsgaard, the Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Philosophy at Harvard […]
In recent years, animal law has flourished, with extraordinarily talented and courageous women entering the field. Among them are these three women, all of whom have been featured by Unbound, the multimedia documentary project celebrating women in animal advocacy. Shatha Hamade In 2012, Shatha Hamade was named Australia’s Young Lawyer of the Year. She had left the corporate world to train in law with the specific aim of helping animals, after a chance encounter with an animal welfare stall one […]
Gizmo was 16 years old, the long-beloved cat of Helena Abrahams. Gizmo went out to play in July 2016, but never returned home: she was in a road traffic accident. Even though Gizmo had a microchip, she was disposed of before anyone scanned her for a chip. Currently under UK Law, dogs must be microchipped, and drivers who hit cats on the road must report the accident under UK law. An animal rescue centre or veterinary profession would be informed, […]