+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | GLOBAL LEGAL BENCHMARKS | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | EUROPEAN UNION • Article 13 of the Lisbon Treaty recognizes | | animals as "sentient beings." | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | UNITED STATES • Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulates labs/zoos | | but explicitly excludes farm animals. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | STRATEGIC LITIGATION • Nonhuman Rights Project uses Habeas Corpus | | to seek legal personhood for apes/elephants. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Push for Constitutional Rights
The welfare advocate looks at a veal crate and says, "This is too small. Make it bigger." The rights advocate looks at the same crate and says, "This crate should not exist." Make it bigger
Recent legislation and advocacy are currently focused on several high-priority areas: It is illegal to kill a healthy dog
The tension between welfare and rights is not academic. It determines strategy, fundraising, and legislation. not property. Yet
Consider the case of Western society arguably grants pet cats and dogs near-rights . It is illegal to kill a healthy dog at a shelter in many jurisdictions; cruelty to a pet is a felony. We treat them as family members, not property. Yet, we legally spay and neuter them (a clear violation of their right to reproduce) and keep them confined in houses (a clear violation of liberty).
The conversation regarding animal welfare and rights is not a niche concern for vegans and hippies. It is a central question of ethics in an industrialized world. We have created a system that processes over 80 billion land animals annually—machines of flesh and blood that live and die by our economic whims.