Animal Law' Comes Into Its Own

by Patricia Collier
 

Ten years ago, one would have been hard pressed to find even a reference to "animal law."

These days, animal law has become a viable legal specialty, with an increasing number of attorneys forming entire practices dedicated to animal issues.

Animal lawyers don't just handle legal challenges for endangered species or prosecute severe abuse cases. In response to a growing interest in protecting all animals, animal practices now represent many kinds of issues, including animal cruelty, companion animal custody during divorces, legal provisions for animals in case of the guardian's death, hunting limits, lab testing of animals, wildlife conservation regulations, even definitions of terms such as "pain" as they relate to animals, and much more.

The sheer number of animals cared for by humans has a lot to do with the increase in animal-related legal services. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, animal guardianship has increased nearly 19 percent in the last ten years.

More Information:

Determining your Pet's Worth
'Is Pet Ownership Destroying the Lives of Americans?'
Putting a Price on Puppy Love
Animal welfare: do you know where your legislators stand?
Medical malpractice crisis; Coming soon to a profession near you
When pets die at the vet, grieving owners call lawyers
Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF)
Animal Legal Reports
Free Kit: Providing for Your Pet's Future Without You
Pet custody battles on the rise
Rutgers Animal Rights Law Project
National Center For Animal Law (Oregon)
Center For Wildlife Law

ABUSE NETWORK

The amount of money spent on those animals has nearly doubled during the same period of time, going from $17 billion in 1994 to around $31 billion in 2003.

The more people value their companion animals, the more they are demanding laws to protect them.

Because of this, animal law has taken center stage with many state bar associations, and at several law schools across the country. More than 30 law schools, including Yale and Harvard, now offer at least some animal law courses, including 'pet custody.'

"Animals can't speak for themselves, so people need to speak for them," said Barbara Gislason, a Minneapolis attorney who chairs the recently-formed Animal Law Bar Association committee.

According to many attorneys, another reason animal law is gaining strength is that people today are more aware than they were a decade ago of the fact that animals have emotions and need protection from abuse and exploitation.

"Most of this stuff has not been closely analyzed. Now people are questioning it," said David Wolfson, a New York City attorney who has handled some animal cases and has taught animal law at Yale University.

"Many people consider a pet as a family member," Gislason said. "But there's nothing in the law that reflects the role of a pet in the family."

While the field is expanding, progress is slower than many attorneys would like, mainly because most animal cases haven't gone past the district court level, making them difficult for lawyers to find and cite in their cases.

Help may be on the way.

Carolyn Matlack is an attorney and the president and managing editor of Animal Legal Reports Services (ALRS), which offers reports co-authored by attorneys to keep everyone -- from lawyers to schools to the media to corporate managers -- aware and up to date on what's happening with animals in the courts.

"Our mission is to uplift the status of animal law and therefore animals around the world," Matlack said.

The reports will be published on a regular basis and will help the reader quickly locate information, including animal-related cases and articles and recent developments that directly impact legal practices.

Animal law will also play a part as current laws are challenged by the public, such as how much to allow for damages in a veterinary malpractice suit. Currently, animal guardians can receive 'fair market value' of their animal, but many think they should be compensated more.

"What's happening now is a real interesting shift in the law in how we recognize animals as having value," said Lee Scholder, who serves as vice chair of the Minnesota Bar Association animal law committee.

Wolfson said on the law books, companion animals are viewed as personal property, much like a living room sofa. Using the property reference makes things difficult in veterinary malpractice suits, he said, because damage awards are given based only on the 'monetary value' of a companion animal, and ignore the 'emotional value' of the non-human companion.

"...These cases point to a larger trend. This area of the law needs to change to reflect that people do form special bonds with their pets," Wolfson said. "If someone carried around a rock and felt an attachment to it, that would not be acceptable. But a pet is different. The law needs to start changing its terms."

With more than 160 million animal guardians in the United States -- a figure that continues to grow daily -- animal law promises to be a positive -- and busy -- force in the future of protection for our non-human companions.

"We spend an increasing amount of time with our pets in today's world and form deep relations with them," said Nancy Peterson of the Humane Society of the United States.

"Pets are sometimes the one constant in our lives." Peterson pointed out.

 

Sources

Star Tribune
www.startribune.com/stories/462/4326372.html
Legal world going to the dogs -- and cats and cows and deer and tigers ...

Christian Science Monitor
www.csmonitor.com/2004/0126/p11s01-lihc.html
A fiercer battle in today's divorces: Who'll get the pooch?

KGW
www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D80ASLV82.html
Appellate court defines "pain" for animal-cruelty cases