Results
Title |
Author![]() |
Citation | Summary | Type |
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Equitable Self-Ownership for Animals | David Favre | 50 Duke Law Jour. 473 (2000) |
This Article proposes a new use of existing property law concepts to change the juristic personhood status of animals. Presently, animals are classified as personal property, which gives them no status or standing in the legal system for the protection or promotion of their interests. Professor Favre suggests that it is possible and appropriate to divide living property into its legal and equitable components, and then to transfer the equitable title of an animal from the legal title holder to the animal herself. This would create a new, limited form of self-ownership in an animal, an equitably self-owned animal. |
Article |
TWENTY YEARS AND CHANGE | David Favre | 20 Animal L. 7 (2013) |
This Introduction provides an overview of the evolution of animal law over the past twenty years, demonstrating how changes in the law, social awareness, and legal education have directly affected this field. This Introduction describes both the positive and negative changes that have taken place, from the banning of dogfighting and cockfighting by federal law and some state laws; a spread in voter-adopted legislation providing for the protection of agricultural animals; and movements to reduce the use of chimpanzees in animal research; to the limitations of the Animal Welfare Act; changes in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy lifting the ban on USDA inspection of horsemeat; discrimination of certain breeds of dogs through breed-specific legislation; and the weakening of a number of federal laws providing protection to wildlife. This Introduction also provides an overview of case law, discussing attempts to achieve standing for animals and differing approaches in calculating damages for harm to pets. With respect to legal institutions, there has been an increasing presence of animal law sections within the American Bar Association and state bar associations. Animal law has also expanded within legal education. This is evidenced by the emergence of animal law conferences, publications in animal focused law reviews and textbooks, animal law courses at prestigious law schools, and full-time professors specializing in the area of animal law. |
Article |
The Nature of Treaties | David Favre | Animal Legal & Historical Center |
This article provides a brief overview of the types of treaties, the treaty process (e.g., creation, ratification, etc.), as well as problems derived from a given sample treaty. |
Article |
Living Property: A New Status for Animals Within the Legal System | David Favre | 93 Marq. L. Rev. 1021 (2010) |
This Article develops the proposition that non-human animals can possess and exercise legal rights. This proposal is supported by the fact that our legal system already accommodates a number of animal interests within the criminal anti-cruelty laws and civil trust laws. To make a more coherent package of all animal-related public policy issues, it is useful to acknowledge the existence of a fourth category of property, living property. Once separated out from other property, a new area of jurisprudence will evolve, providing legal rights for at least some animals. This Article establishes why animals should receive consideration within the legal system, which animals should be focused upon, what some of the legal rights might be, and how the traditional rules of property law will be modified to accommodate the presence of this new category of property. |
Article |
American Wildlife Law - An Introduction | David Favre |
This article provides a short introduction to the matrix of government interests in controlling wildlife in the United States. The powers of state and federal government are considered along with limitations on the exercise of the authority. |
Article | |
Overview of Historical Materials | David Favre | Animal Legal & Historical Center |
This article provides a quick overview of the historical materials available through the Web Center |
Article |
The Development of the Anti-Cruelty Laws During the 1800's | David Favre & Vivien Tsang | 1993 Det. C.L. Rev. 1 (1993) |
Article explains how the laws which deal with protection of animals from inappropriate human acts developed during the 1800's. The key focus is on Henry Bergh's efforts in the adoption of the 1867 New York Act. |
Article |
ANIMAL CONSORTIUM | David S. Favre and Thomas Dickinson | 84 Tenn. L. Rev. 893 (2017) | This article will show that sufficient relational interest can exist between a human and companion animal and that this interest is widely accepted in our culture; therefore, financial recovery for the disruption of this relationship is a fair burden to place upon actors in today's world. This proposal does not seek to give any legal rights to companion animals; instead, this is a proposal to allow the law to acknowledge the depth and reality of the bond between humans and animals that exists in millions of families across the country. First, this article sets out the existing categories of damage for recovery when a defendant's tortious actions result in the death of a companion animal. Integral to this discussion is the reality that companion animals are considered property. Courts most often are unwilling to extend financial recovery to include the emotional loss of the owner of an animal. Second, this article will examine the history of the concept of consortium to show how the legal system has come to accept that the compensable harm is not limited to economic consequences, nor is it limited to husband and wife relationships. Third, this article will present information to support the position that companion animals are emotionally and psychologically important to the human members of many families. Fourth, this article will show that animals have already jumped out of the property box in a number of fact patterns, and therefore, it is appropriate to raise their status in this context as well. Fifth, this article will consider the application of the concept of animal consortium in detail as an extension of the common law cause of action. Finally, acknowledging some of the difficulties that courts may have in implementing this proposal, a legislative draft is proposed to accomplish the recovery sought by this article. | Article |
Veterinary Malpractice: Questions for the Owner | Favre David S. | Animal Legal & Historical Center |
This article provides several key questions a pet owner must ask him or herself prior to initiating a veterinary malpractice lawsuit. |
Article |
Examining the Veterinary Client-Patient Relationship in the United States: Why the Abolition of the In-Person Examination Requirement is Warranted | Jeffrey P. Feldmann | 56 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 91 (2023) | This Note examines the development of VCPR law, the incorporation - or lack thereof - of telehealth into VCPR law across the United States, and considers VCPR effect on access to care. After discussing the state of the veterinary industry and the regulatory scheme of veterinary medicine, Part II assesses VCPR laws across the United States, establishing that there is general uniformity from state to state. In Part II, the Note juxtaposes human medicine's widespread acceptance of telehealth to establish valid doctor-patient relationships with relative absence of such acceptance of telehealth in veterinary medicine to establish valid VCPRs. Part III then discusses and analyzes existing litigation concerning VCPR law and telehealth measures in the Fifth Circuit and in California. The Note concludes by proposing more widespread adoption of telemedicine as a means to establish a VCPR in order to improve access to quality care for veterinarians, clients, and patients more closely aligned with human medicine. | Article |