By Jenny Canham, Campaigns and Public Affairs Specialist, Animal Equality UK Animal Equality, a leading animal protection organisation, has joined with cross-party MP representatives to respond to DEFRA’s recent announcement of plans to implement a ban on foie gras imports ‘in the next few months’. In the latest issue of The Observer,1 Animal Equality released an open letter urging George Eustice MP and Lord Zac Goldsmith to share a concrete roadmap, publicly outlining when and how the ban will […]
By Otis Graham, barrister April 3 marked the second celebration of World Aquatic Animal Day, an occasion created by the Lewis & Clark Law School and its Aquatic Animal Law Initiative (AALI). The theme this year is ‘The Impact of Our Human Activities on Aquatic Animals’. Human activity impacts aquatic animals (fish and other animals with aquatic habitats) in many ways. An estimated 0.79-2.3 trillion fish are wild caught and killed for food globally every year, and billions more are […]
By Pablo P. Castelló, PhD Candidate in Philosophy at Royal Holloway University of London Philosopher Alasdair Cochrane has recently developed the notion of sentient rights, a system that would recognise all sentient animals as bearers of rights.i He interprets Peter Singer’s understanding of sentience as “the capacity for conscious experience,” and thus contends that this implies sentient animals “have a sense of ‘self’”, insofar as they can “experience the world and their place in it”.ii This also means such […]
We interviewed our Student Ambassador from Edinburgh University and Chair of its newly formed A-law Student Chapter. Mary is a first-year graduate law student at the University of Edinburgh. She aspires to use her legal career to contribute to improving animal welfare standards and promote education of animal law. We commend her on the recent development of her A-law Student Chapter at Edinburgh University. You can find the new chapter on Instagram at: @uoealaw, on Twitter: @UoEALAW and on Facebook at: […]
By Denise Ho, law student In its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 3rd to be World Wildlife Day. Since 2013, the date has marked an annual celebration of wildlife, bringing awareness and appreciation to the dense ecosystems we cohabit with on this planet. Each unique ecosystem is like a living individual. They are home to an immeasurable range of species that compose an important part of their foundations. Due to climate change brought about by humanity’s […]
by Andrew Rosindell M.P. Our pets have been worth their weight in gold during lockdown. In an age of isolation, our beloved feline and canine companions have been a vital source of companionship when most human interaction has been suspended. This is particularly true for people living alone, for whom loneliness has been a constant problem this past year. Without the companionship of their pet, there would be no escape from that awful feeling of being alone. Indeed, people living […]
By Chris Butler-Stroud and Sarah Dolman, Whale and Dolphin Conservation For International Marine Mammal Protection Day, we asked WCD what laws they would like to see changed to protect marine mammals. This is their response. The increasing pressures that marine mammals face worldwide, including bycatch and pollution (noise, litter, and chemical), remain an ongoing conservation and welfare challenge. In all ocean basins, anthropogenic impacts are leading to population declines and extinctions. Entire populations as well as individuals are […]
By Cathy Jaquiss & Alexis Slatter, barristers-at-law The recent judicial opinion in McKiver v. Murphy-Brown, LLC (4th Cir. 2020) features insightful analysis of what happens when the farming industry forgets that better treatment of non-human animals will benefit humans. Documenting the worst of factory farming practices, McKiver looks at how awareness of the adverse effects of poor farming practices on humans, especially frequently marginalised groups, may lead to an advancement in the welfare of non-human animals. The judicial opinion found […]
The book “What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law?”, now in its second edition, is at once a legal textbook (though a fairly accessible one) and a call to action. It’s a veritable treatise on the answer to the title question, as well as the answer to the reverse. Professor Abate’s well-curated book features 29 chapters of dense research and compelling arguments, each written by established professors and leaders of their fields. The wisdom in comparing and combining the […]
By Angelica Botta, LLB Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it has amended the Air Carrier Access Act, affecting the regulations concerning service animals and emotional support animals. The department received more than 15,000 comments from passengers with disabilities, airlines, flight attendants, airport staff, and members of the public regarding air travel with animals. The allowance of emotional support animals (ESA) on airplanes is a controversial topic, with one side of the continual argument relying on the […]