Summary: The author argues that, in promulgating regulations under the Pet Theft Act, the United States Department of Agriculture erred in its interpretation of the law and misapplied basic rules of statutory construction. The article examines some of the confusions that have arisen in the pound seizure dispute due to the new amendments and regulations.
Summary: A professor of law at Brooklyn Law School explains why, in the controversial Lukumi case, the Supreme Court ruled that the religious sacrifice of animals falls under the protective umbrella of the Free Exercise Clause. The author criticizes the court for abandoning the belief-action dichotomy in Free Exercise jurisprudence and places blame on the lack of protection given to animals by current laws.
Summary: After describing the practice and effects of bear baiting, the article recounts the USFS's reluctant and haphazard attempts to develop a national policy on bear baiting, and the resulting legal challenges. The authors examine the scope of USFS authority to regulate human activities in the national forests, particularly with regard to actions impacting wildlife, then analyze the USFS's recent proposed "national policy" on bear baiting. Finally, the authors will explain why the USFS should apply the same management principles and standards to controversial 'hunting" practices, such as bear baiting, as it does to other uses of the nation's forests which have environmental impacts and interfere with the use and enjoyment of the forests by other users.
Summary: The first in a series of articles by the author whose overall purpose is to explain why legal rights need not be restricted to human beings and why a handful of rights that protect fundamental interests of human beings should also protect the fundamental interests of such nonhuman animals as chimpanzees and bonobos. The second article in this series traces the development of the common law as it concerns the relationships between human and nonhuman animals from its beginnings in the Mesopotamian "law code" of the third and second millennia, B.C. until today.
Summary: The author compares John Stuart Mill's social movement theory to the animal rights movement.
Summary: This article discusses federal policy towards animal patenting, including the Senator's introduction of legislation to establish a National Ethics Advisory Board, and current issues in bioethics.
Summary: This article provides an introduction into premiere issue of Animal Law.
Summary: This article provides a review of significant state animal-related legislation from 2014.
Summary: This article provides a review of significant animal-related federal legislation from 2014.
Summary: Rabbits are most commonly perceived as soft, fuzzy, tender, loving, active household pets. However, rabbit meat is growing in popularity among urban farmers, foodies, and chefs alike. The pet rabbit industry is subject to a variety of laws and regulations intended to ensure the humane and proper treatment of these beloved pets. Yet, 'meat rabbits,' which are often the same breed or species as pet rabbits, are often not covered by either the protections that govern the treatment of animals used for meat or the protections that govern the treatment of rabbits as pets or companion animals. The lack of laws and regulations applicable to the meat rabbit industry has led to widely documented inhumane treatment and animal abuse. Such beloved companions deserve the benefits of increased government oversight of rabbit meat production. This Article proposes that, on the federal level, the United States Department of Agriculture inspection of commercial rabbit producers and processors should be mandatory rather than voluntary. States must also play a central role because, given the nature of the rabbit meat industry, it is especially important that any new standards reach small farms and urban farmers, in addition to commercial producers. This Article proposes that state standards use puppy mill laws as guidance, given rabbits' societal status as companion animals. New laws governing the raising of meat rabbits should establish standards for light and ventilation, requirements for environmental enrichment, limits on breeding, and floor space minimums for cages. Such changes will ensure that the rabbit's more typical role as a companion animal is acknowledged, while providing the necessary protection from abuse and mistreatment when rabbits are raised for meat consumption.
