Globalization and Animal Law

The rise of the globalized economy has rendered an even more profound change in the relationship between humans and other animals than the ancient progression from huntergatherer to agricultural society. In today's global markets, multinational corporations exploit the economic value of animals throughout the world on an unprecedented scale.

The philosophical and legal notions that animals are mere unfeeling machines or pieces of property, although more or less taken for granted for centuries, has been challenged, if not burst asunder, in recent decades (in law, moral philosophy, and cognitive and other sciences), and regulation of the treatment of animals in agriculture, experimentation, entertainment and other areas has begun to make substantial inroads in national and international law.

This book provides a detailed analysis of international and comparative animal law focusing on the impact of today's globalized economy on animal law. Describing a wide range of domestic and international laws relating to the treatment of animals, the author explicates the sorts of legal rules which affect the global animal marketplace. Representative norms in existing animal protection laws are analyzed and critiqued, illustrating the diverse approaches taken by different countries and by the international community in regulating uses of animals.

Among the issues covered are the following:

• - contemporary philosophical thought on the relationship between humans and animals;
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• - recent scientific research relating to cognitive and other abilities of animals;
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• - legal issues relating to factory farming and animal slaughter;
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• - legal protection of animals during transport;
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• - regulatory schemes on animal experimentation;
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• - laws on the use of animals in entertainment;
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• - laws on protection of companion animals;
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• - regulation of trade in endangered species;
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• - international trade issues relating to animals, including consideration of the provisions of GATT and the seminal WTO/GATT decisions in the Tuna/Dolphin, Shrimp/Turtle, Tuna Labeling and EU/Seal Products cases;
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• - constitutional protection for the interests of animals;
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• - intellectual property law issues relating to animals;
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• - efforts to have the legal "personhood" of certain animals judicially recognized; and
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• - what the future may hold for animal law in the global economy.
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  To ensure the consideration of a full range of legal approaches, the laws analyzed come from a wide variety of countries and jurisdictions, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the EU, Germany, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK, and state and federal laws of the US. Numerous international treaties and conventions relevant to animal treatment and animal law are also covered, including the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the CITES Co...