Animal Law Review, Volume 5 (1999)
INTRODUCTION
FREE SPEECH, ANIMAL LAW, AND FOOD ACTIVISM
Howard F. Lyman, LL.D.
ARTICLES
DON'T FENCE ME IN—APPLICATION OF THE UNLAWFUL ENCLOSURES OF PUBLIC LANDS ACT TO BENEFIT WILDLIFE
Chandra Rosenthal & Kara Gillon
Ms. Rosenthal and Ms. Gillon discuss the effect of the Unlawful Enclosures Act on movement of wildlife on public lands. The authors propose that access protections preserved for other wildlife should be extended to the Sonoran pronghorn antelope in the southwestern United States.
McLIBEL
David J. Wolfson
In 1991, McDonald's sued two pro se defendants in England for defamation in relation to, among other things, allegations that McDonald's was culpably responsible for cruel common farming practices. The case took seven years and the appeals still continue, Though McDonald's spent over $16 million on legal representation and had significant legal advantages, it lost major portions of the case, including the issue of animal cruelty. Mr. Wolfson discusses the background and holding of "McLibel" in relation to cruel common farming practices, its unique legal context, and the impact of the holding on animal law in general and state anti-cruelty laws in the United States. In addition, he explores the contradiction that McLibel exposes: the fact that a common farming practice can be found to be cruel in the view of a reasonable person while legal pursuant to an anti-cruelty statute.
ESSAYS
ANIMAL THING TO ANIMAL PERSON—THOUGHTS ON TIME, PLACE, AND THEORIES
Steven M. Wise
Mr. Wise challenges the rule that "animals are property" and argues that animals deserve the legal rights afforded to humans. He offers seven strategic considerations for attorneys who wish to have an impact on animal rights and overcome the Great Legal Wall in the animal law field.
STATE ANIMAL ANTI-CRUELTY STATUTES: AN OVERVIEW
Pamela D. Frasch, Stephan K. Otto, Kristen M. Olsen, and Paul A. Ernest
This article provides an introduction to the current status of state animal anti-cruelty laws throughout the United States. Extensive exploration of the similarities and differences between these statutes, combined with detailed statutory citations, enables this article to serve as a useful resource for research and statistical purposes. Additionally, the article offers an opportunity to review many of the provisions contained within these anti-cruelty statutes and to identify those in need of improvement.
ANIMAL CRUELTY AND VIOLENCE AGAINST HUMANS: MAKING THE CONNECTION
Randall Lockwood
The idea that there is a connection between the way individuals treat animals and human beings has a long history in Western popular culture, but a shorter history as the subject of scientific research. Recently, a growing body of evidence has confirmed an association between repeated, intentional abuse of animals and a variety of violent antisocial behaviors including child abuse, domestic violence, and violent criminal activities. The public made this connection before most law-enforcement or mental health officials. Public sentiment for tougher and better-enforced animal cruelty laws is strong, and there has been a dramatic response to recent high-profile animal abuse cases. Sensitivity to the importance of animal abuse as both an indicator of exposure to violence in the home and a predictor of increased risk for future acts of violence against people, promises to be an important tool to prevent many forms of societal violence.
LEGISLATIVE REVIEW
1998 STATE BALLOT INITIATIVES
Aaron Lake
COMMENTS
EQUITY AS A PARADIGM FOR SUSTAINABILITY: EVOLVING THE PROCESS TOWARD INTERSPECIES EQUITY
Gwendellyn Io Earnshaw
The concept of sustainability has evolved through a wide variety of definitions. Traditionally, sustainability was seen as a system of management which would allow humans to perpetually exploit the world's natural resources; that is, to manage resources so they would never be depleted. More recently, however, writers have argued the traditional concept of sustainability has failed because a truly sustainable system recognizes all resources and stakeholders for their inherent value. Equity is thus the essential ethic of a sustainable system. This article adopts this modern view of sustainability and identifies interspecies equity-the consideration of nonhuman animals based upon their inherent self-interests-as the embodiment and ultimate test of a truly sustainable system. By identifying the negative impacts of suppressing interspecies equity and citing examples of how to incorporate the sustainable ideal of interspecies equity, this article points the way toward a truly equity-based ethic of sustainability.
EXAMINING THE VIABILITY OF ANOTHER LORD OF YESTERDAY: OPEN RANGE LAWS AND LIVESTOCK DOMINANCE IN THE MODERN WEST
Coby Dolan
In this comment, the author explores the development of open range laws in Oregon and other western states and argues such laws should be abolished or drastically amended. Common law requires ranchers to fence livestock in or face liability for damages caused by strays. However, historical customs and practices of Western states were shaped by vast open lands and sparce populations, leading to open range customs which required a landowner to fence "out" livestock to protect their property. This comment focuses on the case of Dr. Patrick Shipsey, an Oregon landowner convicted of shooting cattle that wandered onto his land. Through this discussion, the viability of open range statutes is discussed and the ongoing debate exposed. Policy alternatives are proposed that reflect modern demographic changes and a re-balancing of the economic and environmental burdens of ranching practices.
STATUTES WITH FOUR LEGS TO STAND ON? AN EXAMINATION OF "CRUELTY TO POLICE DOG" LAWS
by Craig Ian Scheiner
This Comment reviews police dog laws of forty states and one territory of the United States. Mr. Scheiner explores the policy considerations of using police dogs and the laws that protect them. He concludes that police departments have the sole discretion of deployment and therefore are the only ones who can truly protect police dogs.