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Animal law

Animal law is a combination of statutory and case law in which the nature – legal, social or biological – of nonhuman animals is an important factor. Animal law encompasses companion animals, wildlife, animals used in entertainment and animals raised for food and research. The emerging field of animal law is often analogized to the environmental law movement because "animal law faces many of the same legal and strategic challenges that environmental law faced in seeking to establish a more secure foothold in the United States and abroad".[1]

Animal law issues encompass a broad spectrum of approaches – from philosophical explorations of the rights of animals to pragmatic discussions about the rights of those who use animals, who has standing to sue when an animal is harmed in a way that violates the law, and what constitutes legal cruelty.[2] Animal law permeates and affects most traditional areas of the law – including tort, contract, criminal and constitutional law. Examples of this intersection include:

Organizations[edit]

A growing number of state and local bar associations now have animal law committees.[2] The Animal Legal Defense Fund, founded in 1979, was the first organization dedicated to promoting the field of animal law and using the law to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals.


In the Swiss canton of Zurich an animal lawyer, Antoine Goetschel, was employed by the canton government to represent the interests of animals in animal cruelty cases[7] from 2007 through 2010, when the Zurich Animal Advocate position was abolished.[8] In this capacity, Goetschel attempted to ensure that Swiss animal protection laws, which are among the strictest in the world,[9] were correctly enforced.


The Animal Defenders Office is an Australian community legal centre focusing on animal law.


In South Africa, Animal Law Reform South Africa is the first dedicated animal law organisation in the country working in the areas of 1. Legislative and Policy Reform; 2. Litigation and Legal Services and 3. Education and Research

Animal Law in Australia: An Integrated Approach (2011) by Alex Bruce.  9780409327267

ISBN

Humanising Animals: Civilising People (2011) by Mirko Bagaric, Keith Akers.  9781921948602

ISBN

Animal law in Australia and New Zealand (2010) by Deborah Cao, Katrina Sharman.  9780455226187

ISBN

Animal Law in Australasia: Continuing the Dialogue (2013) by Peter J Sankoff, Steven White, Celeste Black.  9781862879300

ISBN

Handbook of Australian Cruelty Law (2009) by Malcolm Caulfield.  9780646505459

ISBN

Abolitionism (animal rights)

Animal ethics

Animal Law Review

Animal trial

Animal rights by country or territory

Animal welfare

Animal Welfare Act

Brazilian Abolitionist Movement for Animal liberation

Commodity status of animals

Hunting Act 2004

Intrinsic value (animal ethics)

Legal status of animals in Canada

Society for Animal Protective Legislation

Bernstein, Robin, New Jersey Lawyer, pp. 23, 27, August 2005

"Animal Law: Yesterday and Today"

May 20, 2008, The UW Daily, Seattle

Animal law for "least protected" and "most innocent"

March 29, 2008, USA Today

"Fido, Fluffy Become More High Profile Part of Law,"

Global Journal of Animal Law

Revue Semestrielle de Droit Animalier

Global Animal Law Project

Platform to improve the legal conditions of animals

Lewis & Clark Law School

Center for Animal Law Studies

Michigan State University College of Law

Animal Legal and Historical Center

Animal Legal Defense Fund

Animal protection laws

National Anti-Vivisection Society

International Institute for Animal Law

Animal Law Reform South Africa

Humane Society of the United States

The State of the Animals III: 2005

International Animal Law, with a Concentration on Latin America, Asia, and Africa

Progress in Animal Legislation: Measurement and Assessment