ISAR’s revolutionary new Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute is spreading through the animal protection movement and into the general culture.
For example, a participant in ISAR’s 2008 Homeless Animals’ Day from Florida has informed us that: “Just so you know, I copied the great model spay/neuter statute you wrote in your blog and forwarded it to all Fla state senators. I’ll do the same with the state reps tomorrow.” The Executive Director of Animal Law Coalition has requested “permission to reprint this wonderful monograph”—which ISAR gratefully granted.
We have had offers to translate our Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute into Russian and Albanian, and have called for volunteers to translate it into other languages. As the translations become available, they will be posted on our website and made available to spay/neuter advocates in the appropriate countries.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
UBS and Other Generous Matching Donations
UBS is a worldwide institution of great distinction. As part of its company policy of supporting worthwhile non-profit causes, the UBS Foundation USA has approved ISAR as eligible to receive matching gifts from donations made by UBS employees (up to $2,500 per employee each year).
This means, of course, that a UBS employee’s contribution to ISAR is worth double the amount contributed by the individual.
We invite any of ISAR’s supporters who may be employees of UBS to take advantage of its matching contributions program.
As a matter of fact, over 8,000 other companies sponsor matching gift programs.
See: http://www.firstgiving.com/ for further information.
We encourage all ISAR supporters to inquire of their employers about a matching gift program at their companies.
This means, of course, that a UBS employee’s contribution to ISAR is worth double the amount contributed by the individual.
We invite any of ISAR’s supporters who may be employees of UBS to take advantage of its matching contributions program.
As a matter of fact, over 8,000 other companies sponsor matching gift programs.
See: http://www.firstgiving.com/ for further information.
We encourage all ISAR supporters to inquire of their employers about a matching gift program at their companies.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Important New Publication: Stanford Journal of Animal Law and Policy
ISAR is pleased to note the advent of a new publication devoted not only to the legal aspects of animal law, but to the inseparable policy aspects as well.
There are several reasons we welcome this new publication.
The Journal is a student effort, once again demonstrating that there are those in the younger generation who take very seriously the wellbeing of animals.
As ISAR has made plain in its recently published monograph "The Policy, Law and Morality of Mandatory Spay/Neuter"
(http://isaronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Mandatory_Spay_Neuter_Monograph.pdf),
before the law can be used on behalf of animals it is first indispensably necessary that core policy issues be resolved. Once they are, the legal issues are much easier to deal with.
In a radical departure from almost all the traditional journal and law review scholarship which has been published in written form for well over a century, the Stanford Journal of Animal Law and Policy is an online publication. The significance of this cannot be overemphasized. Not only are the Journal’s production costs virtually non-existent—no printing, binding, mailing, circulation, etc.—but the scope of potential readers is incalculable. Literally countless potential readers can simply access https://journals.law.stanford.edu/stanford-journal-animal-law-policy and there read and/or print any or all of the articles.
Lastly, the Journal’s choice of articles for its inaugural issue suggests that the editors have a wide ranging perspective on the subject of animal law and policy. The first of four articles is “The History of Animal Law, Part I (1972-1987), by Joyce Tischler, Co-Founder and General Counsel of the Animal Legal Defense Fund—and now de facto historian of the animal law movement. This article is essential reading for every person interested in how the movement began and its founders.
The other articles—human-animal hybridization, stem cells and animal advocates, and a lengthy book review—are sure to contribute to the ongoing debate about animal law and policy.
Subscription to the Journal is free, and one can sign up on line.
ISAR strongly recommends that its supporters do so.
There are several reasons we welcome this new publication.
The Journal is a student effort, once again demonstrating that there are those in the younger generation who take very seriously the wellbeing of animals.
As ISAR has made plain in its recently published monograph "The Policy, Law and Morality of Mandatory Spay/Neuter"
(http://isaronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Mandatory_Spay_Neuter_Monograph.pdf),
before the law can be used on behalf of animals it is first indispensably necessary that core policy issues be resolved. Once they are, the legal issues are much easier to deal with.
In a radical departure from almost all the traditional journal and law review scholarship which has been published in written form for well over a century, the Stanford Journal of Animal Law and Policy is an online publication. The significance of this cannot be overemphasized. Not only are the Journal’s production costs virtually non-existent—no printing, binding, mailing, circulation, etc.—but the scope of potential readers is incalculable. Literally countless potential readers can simply access https://journals.law.stanford.edu/stanford-journal-animal-law-policy and there read and/or print any or all of the articles.
Lastly, the Journal’s choice of articles for its inaugural issue suggests that the editors have a wide ranging perspective on the subject of animal law and policy. The first of four articles is “The History of Animal Law, Part I (1972-1987), by Joyce Tischler, Co-Founder and General Counsel of the Animal Legal Defense Fund—and now de facto historian of the animal law movement. This article is essential reading for every person interested in how the movement began and its founders.
The other articles—human-animal hybridization, stem cells and animal advocates, and a lengthy book review—are sure to contribute to the ongoing debate about animal law and policy.
Subscription to the Journal is free, and one can sign up on line.
ISAR strongly recommends that its supporters do so.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Annotated Text of ISAR's Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute
Ever since July 2008 when ISAR published its 125 page monograph Policy, Law and Morality of Mandatory Spay/Neuter, considerable interest has focused on the annotated text of our Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute. For the convenience of ISAR’s supporters and others who share our zeal for true mandatory spay/neuter as a partial solution to the companion animal overpopulation problem, we are pleased to print that annotated text here.
ISAR PROPOSED MODEL MANDATORY SPAY/NEUTER STATUTE
THE LEGISLATURE FINDS THAT,
Whereas, there have been and there are within this state countless unwanted dogs and cats lacking permanent homes; and
Whereas, although many of these animals are healthy, many others are not; and
Whereas, the latter through no fault of their own have an adverse impact on the public health, safety, welfare, and environment; and
Whereas, the impact of these animals includes, but is not limited to, the transmission of disease, the injury and sometimes death of humans and other animals, the creation of hazards to vehicular travel, and the drain on public finances; and
Whereas, many of these animals are euthanized by shelters, humane societies, and similar organizations; and
Whereas, euthanizing dogs and cats except for bona fide medical reasons is inhumane and abhorrent to the people of this state; and
Whereas, euthanizing dogs and cats except for bona fide medical reasons is not an effective, economical, humane, or ethical solution to the problem of dog and cat overpopulation; and
Whereas, one of the most effective, economical, humane, and ethical solutions to the problem of dog and cat overpopulation is to substantially reduce, if not entirely eliminate, their breeding; and
Whereas, by such reduction or elimination the State seeks to promote the pubic health, safety, welfare, and environmental interests of its citizens;
Among the major faults of virtually all “mandatory” spay/neuter legislation is the failure to set forth explicitly the fundamental premises upon which the statutes are based. I have sought to remedy that omission by making it clear exactly what premises ISAR’s statute rests on.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Coverage of statute
(a) All dogs and cats present in this state shall be in compliance with this statute, unless specifically exempted.
This subsection makes clear that the rule is compliance with the statute, and that if there are to be exemptions they must be expressly stated.
(b) No exemption shall exist for dogs and cats present in this state which may fall under any federal statute or within the jurisdiction of the federal government or any agency thereof.
Since, as will be explained in Chapter VI, ISAR’s proposed Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute is designed to be enacted by states pursuant to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the purpose of this subsection is an attempt to prevent animals under control of the federal government, but located within a state, to be bred. As such, a legitimate question arises about federal versus state power—but, still, this section is worth incorporating on the chance it would survive challenge.
Section 2. Requirement of spaying and neutering
(a) Subject to the provisions of this statute, every dog and cat harbored in this state shall be spayed or neutered.
This subsection is a corollary of Section 1(a), and reiterates that spay/neuter is the rule. Any deviation must be explicitly stated, and thus the burden of obtaining exemptions is on the one seeking them.
(b) For purposes of this statute, “harbor” is defined to include: legal ownership or providing regular care, shelter, protection, refuge, nourishment, or medical treatment other than as a licensed veterinarian; provided, however, that a person or entity does not “harbor” by providing nourishment to a stray or feral dog or cat, and; provided further, however, that caretakers of feral cat colonies shall use their best efforts to have those animals sterilized.
Many “mandatory” spay/neuter statutes labor with considerable difficulty to define exactly to whom the statutes applies. For example, “owners” may not be in possession or control of the animal, or one who is in control may not be the “owner.” Thus, we have selected the word “harbor” and provided the definition appearing here. Excluded from “harboring” are those who feed feral dogs and cats, because in no sense can it be said that the caretakers own or have any control over those animals. However, recognizing that the most one can do with feral populations, especially cats, is feed-trap-neuter-release (other than trap and euthanize, a subject not within the scope of ISAR’s proposed Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute), it is appropriate that those who voluntarily assume the feeding obligation make their best efforts to have the animals sterilized.
Section 3. Breeding licensees; rules and regulations
Caveat: Readers of this section’s title best not jump to conclusions. What follows is not the usual exception to “mandatory” spay/neuter statutes which effectively nullifies such laws by granting exemptions to breeders and those who “show” companion animals.
(a) Other than as expressly provided below, no dog or cat may be legally used for insemination or bred in this state except by an individual or entity holding a breeding license, which may be issued, in its absolute discretion, by the State Department of Animal Affairs or such other department as the governor shall designate.
This section begins with the absolute prohibition against breeding dogs and cats in this state, period. Express and limited exemptions are provided below.
Breeding licenses may, or may not, be issued by a government department. The exercise of “absolute” discretion, even if it results in the non-issuance of a breeding license, is very difficult to overturn in court.
(b) While a breeding license is valid, no subsequent breeding license shall be issued to any individual related to the first licensee by blood or marriage, to any entity related to the original licensee by common officers, directors, stockholders, or trustees, or to any entity controlled by the original licensee. Any license issued in violation of this subsection shall be void ab initio.
This section is aimed at preventing breeders from escaping the limitations contained in Section 4(i) below.
(c) The licensing authority shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement its statutory duties, including but not limited to recordkeeping requirements.
Consistent with general principle of administrative law, the department charged with issuing breeder licenses has virtually unlimited discretion in establishing applicant qualifications and regulating the conduct of licensees.
(d) Such rules and regulations shall include, but need not be limited to, provisions assuring that the animals in the breeding licensee’s care there are provided: sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and water consistent with its breed, size, and age; shelter that will allow the animals to be protected from the elements with room to stand up, turn around, and lie down without lying it its or another animal’s waste; confinement space that is clean and disinfected; an opportunity for adequate sunlight, fresh air, and exercise.
This subsection mandates minimum humane requirements that the license-issuing authority must impose on breeder licensees. It may, of course, impose additional and more stringent requirements.
(e) In addition, breeding licensees shall be required to comply with all other state statutes relating to the care and treatment of dogs and cats.
The purpose of this subsection is to make sure that breeding licensees do not argue that only the mandatory spay/neuter statute governs their conduct. Breeder licensees must comply with anti-cruelty and all other state laws regarding animals.
Section 4. Breeding limitations
(a) A breeding licensee may use a male dog or cat only twice to inseminate a female, which must occur within a twelve month period. No further insemination is allowed thereafter.
(b) A breeding licensee may breed a female cat only twice, which must occur within a twelve month period. No further breeding is allowed thereafter.
These two subsections are designed to end the abuse of animals used for breeding, who in most places today are treated no better than reproductive machines. Veterinarians believe that inseminating and giving birth twice in a twelve month period, with no further insemination or breeding thereafter, is not abusive to the animal.
The subsections, and others that appear below, deliberately and substantially reduce the size of breeder operations.
(c) The offspring of breeder licensee’s dogs and cats may be retained by the breeding licensee, but they shall be subject to the same restrictions as their sires and dams, as shall be succeeding generations.
This subsection allows breeder licensees to retain offspring, but similarly limits their breeding.
(d) The dogs and cats covered by this section regarding insemination and breeding shall be at least four months old, the dogs no older than eighteen months, and the cats no older than twelve months.
This subsection creates a two-month window for insemination and breeding, between ages four and six months. Neither may occur before or after those ages.
(e) Once- or twice-bred female dogs and cats shall be sterilized promptly after
delivery of the female animals’ final litters.
(f) Male dogs and cats shall be sterilized promptly after they have twice inseminated females.
The purpose of subsections (e) and (f) is to turn off the reproductive valve, at least as to those dogs and cats, and to further limit the scope of breeder activities.
(g) Promptly after a male dog or cat has twice inseminated a female, and promptly after a female dog or cat has delivered her final litter, the breeder licensee shall either:
(i) Relinquish such animal to a shelter, humane society, rescue group, or similar organization for adoption only, or
(ii) Directly arrange for adoption, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the nearest shelter, humane society, rescue group, or similar organization; provided, however, that the breeder licensee shall under no circumstances transfer custody of a dog or cat to any individual or entity as to whom the breeder licensee knows, or should know, that the animal will be used for scientific experimental purposes.
In addition to the limitations provided above, these sections will oblige breeder licensees to indirectly or directly find homes for their “breeding stock.” After they have been used this way, they deserve loving homes.
(h) No breeding licensee shall release from its custody any dog or cat that has not
been sterilized, except to provide temporary veterinary care.
This section will prevent breeding stock from going elsewhere to be put through the same reproductive cycle.
(i) No breeding licensee shall possess in any calendar year more than ten unneutered male dogs, ten unneutered male cats, ten unspayed female dogs, and ten unspayed female cats, except for newborn litters which may be kept for no more than three months at which time the provisions of this statute will apply to them.
This section deliberately and substantially limits the scope of breeder operations.
Section 5. Other source dogs and cats
(a) Every individual and entity harboring an unsterilized dog or cat shall immediately present the animal to a licensed veterinarian who shall sterilize it; provided, however, that the animal need not be sterilized if it is, or appears to be, less than three months old.
This section is aimed at the person or entity who is not a breeder licensee. For example, an individual or family who rescues a dog or cat, or who is given one as a gift. The burden is on them to have spay/neuter performed. It is also aimed at whoever receives dogs or cats from out-of-state, whether an individual animal or more than one.
(b) This section does not apply to breeder licensees.
They are covered by sections above.
Section 6. Sellers of dogs and cats
(a) Upon coming into the possession of an unsterilized dog or cat, every individual and entity in the business of selling such animals, including but not limited to pet stores, shall immediately present the animal to a licensed veterinarian who shall sterilize it; provided, however, that the animal need not be sterilized if it is, or appears to be, less than three months old.
This section applies to non-breeder licensee retail sellers of dog and cats. Whatever their source of these animals, as soon as a retail seller comes into possession of them there is a duty of immediate sterilization.
(b) This section shall not apply to breeder licensees.
They are covered by sections above.
Section 7. Medical exceptions to sterilization
(a) No dog or cat need be sterilized if a licensed veterinarian, exercising appropriate professional judgment, shall certify in writing and under oath that an animal is medically unfit for the spay/neuter procedure because of a physical condition which would be substantially aggravated by such procedure or would likely cause the animal’s death.
(b) The dog or cat’s age shall not per se constitute medical unfitness.
(c) As soon as the disqualifying medical condition ceases to exist, it shall be the duty of the person having custody or control of the dog or cat to promptly comply with all provisions of this statute.
(d) Possession of the certificate referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall constitute a defense to liability under the penalty provisions of this statute.
(e) If during the disqualification period the dog or cat breeds, the individual or entity in control of the animal shall be punished in accordance with Section 13 of this statute.
This section provides a safe harbor for those dogs and cats who have bona fide medical reasons not to be neutered. Obviously, this exemption, virtually the only one in ISAR’s Model Mandatory Spay Neuter Statute, is subject to abuse. We hope that veterinarians’ respect for the law generally and what this statute is trying to accomplish in particular, and the requirement that their certification be under oath, will suffice to have medical exemptions granted only when legitimately deserved.
Section 8. Shelters and similar organizations
(a) Shelters, pounds, humane societies, and similar organizations, whether public or private, whose principal purpose is securing the adoption of dogs and cats, shall not be exempt from the provisions of this statute.
(b) No shelter, pound, humane society, or similar organization, whether public or private, whose principal purpose is securing the adoption of dogs and cats, shall release custody of any such animal to its owner or an adopter unless the dog or cat has first been sterilized.
Essentially, this section applies to all companion animal intake and adoption. All dogs and cats taken into these facilities must promptly be neutered. All dogs and cats leaving the shelter will have been neutered, regardless of whether they belong to an identified person or entity.
Section 9. Duties of veterinarians
(a) Any licensed veterinarian who shall become aware that a dog or cat who should be sterilized is in violation of this statute shall promptly inform the person or entity harboring such animal, and further state that the veterinarian has a duty to report that information pursuant to subsection (b) hereof.
This section imposes no more of a burden on veterinarians than those already imposed by law and professional ethics, as for example the duty of informing an animal’s custodian of the risks of surgery or any course of treatment.
(b) If within five business days the person or entity harboring such animal has not shown to the veterinarian’s satisfaction that it has been sterilized, the veterinarian shall report to the enforcing authority the name and contact information of the person harboring such animal and its unsterilized condition.
This section is equivalent in principle to state statutes which require veterinarians to notify public authorities regarding the rabies vaccination of dogs. Moreover, veterinarians already have reporting responsibilities to government agencies, not the least of which pertain to taxes and insurance.
Section 10. Microchipping
Promptly after beginning to harbor a dog or cat, the individual or entity shall have the animal microchipped in accordance with current technology.
The value of this section is self-evident. In addition to public authorities, shelters, and similar organizations being better able to identify lost dogs and cats, mandatory microchipping will facilitate enforcement of the entire mandatory spay/neuter statute.
Section 11. Low-cost spay/neuter
(a) The state shall itself or by contract provide facilities where its citizens can have dogs and cats humanely spayed and neutered by a licensed veterinarian for a fee established by regulation.
(b) The spay/neuter fee to be established by regulation shall be based on ability to pay, and such regulations shall provide for the fee to be waived entirely because of financial hardship.
Virtually every thoughtful person who has seriously addressed the problem of companion animal overpopulation, and organizations like ISAR that propose tough mandatory spay/neuter requirements, realize that success will depend in large part on the ability of low-income custodians of dogs and cats to have their animals neutered. By any calculation—economic, health, humane, moral—state provision of low-cost spay/neuter is eminently necessary and justifiable. (Especially when considered in relation to all the much less worthy projects states support.)
Section 12. Enforcement
Enforcement of this statute shall fall within the jurisdiction of the Attorney General, the Department of Animal Affairs, or such other department as the governor shall designate.
This section expresses a preference for licensing and enforcement to be vested in a department of state government with legal muscle, rather than burying mandatory spay/neuter in some backwater like the Department of Agriculture where it would likely be entrusted to bureaucrats with little or no interest in enforcement.
Section 13. Penalties
(a) The first violation of this statute shall constitute an offense, punishable by a civil fine of $1,000.00.
(b) Each week during which the violation continues will constitute a separate offense for which an additional civil fine of $1,000.00 shall be imposed.
(c) Immediately following the third offense, subsequent violations will be punishable as the lowest grade misdemeanor. The $1,000.00 civil fine will also be imposed for each offense after the first.
Doubtless there will be complaints that this section’s penalties are harsh. They are, and they are meant to be. Once and for all, legislatures, governors, and the regulation/enforcement community must take seriously the problem of companion animal overpopulation—and that seriousness will best be conveyed to the public at large by this section’s harsh punishments for violation. More on this subject is discussed in Chapter X, “Morality and spay/neuter.”
Section 14. Transition
Within sixty days from the effective date of this statute it shall be the responsibility of all those who harbor dogs and cats to be in compliance with this statute.
Some transition time has to be provided, and sixty days seems reasonable.
Section 15. Effective date
This statute will be effective when it is enacted by the legislature and approved by the governor in accordance with state law.
The statute’s sponsors and advocates should resist attempts by its opponents to delay the effective date, during which time they might be able to mount an effective counterattack and perhaps repeal the law or at least gut it.
Section 16. Severability
If any provision of this statute shall be held unconstitutional, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, the remaining provisions shall retain their full status as if the offending provision had not existed.
This section is important legally. If, for example, the veterinarian reporting requirement should be held by a court to be illegal, the balance of the statute would stand.
ISAR PROPOSED MODEL MANDATORY SPAY/NEUTER STATUTE
THE LEGISLATURE FINDS THAT,
Whereas, there have been and there are within this state countless unwanted dogs and cats lacking permanent homes; and
Whereas, although many of these animals are healthy, many others are not; and
Whereas, the latter through no fault of their own have an adverse impact on the public health, safety, welfare, and environment; and
Whereas, the impact of these animals includes, but is not limited to, the transmission of disease, the injury and sometimes death of humans and other animals, the creation of hazards to vehicular travel, and the drain on public finances; and
Whereas, many of these animals are euthanized by shelters, humane societies, and similar organizations; and
Whereas, euthanizing dogs and cats except for bona fide medical reasons is inhumane and abhorrent to the people of this state; and
Whereas, euthanizing dogs and cats except for bona fide medical reasons is not an effective, economical, humane, or ethical solution to the problem of dog and cat overpopulation; and
Whereas, one of the most effective, economical, humane, and ethical solutions to the problem of dog and cat overpopulation is to substantially reduce, if not entirely eliminate, their breeding; and
Whereas, by such reduction or elimination the State seeks to promote the pubic health, safety, welfare, and environmental interests of its citizens;
Among the major faults of virtually all “mandatory” spay/neuter legislation is the failure to set forth explicitly the fundamental premises upon which the statutes are based. I have sought to remedy that omission by making it clear exactly what premises ISAR’s statute rests on.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Coverage of statute
(a) All dogs and cats present in this state shall be in compliance with this statute, unless specifically exempted.
This subsection makes clear that the rule is compliance with the statute, and that if there are to be exemptions they must be expressly stated.
(b) No exemption shall exist for dogs and cats present in this state which may fall under any federal statute or within the jurisdiction of the federal government or any agency thereof.
Since, as will be explained in Chapter VI, ISAR’s proposed Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute is designed to be enacted by states pursuant to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the purpose of this subsection is an attempt to prevent animals under control of the federal government, but located within a state, to be bred. As such, a legitimate question arises about federal versus state power—but, still, this section is worth incorporating on the chance it would survive challenge.
Section 2. Requirement of spaying and neutering
(a) Subject to the provisions of this statute, every dog and cat harbored in this state shall be spayed or neutered.
This subsection is a corollary of Section 1(a), and reiterates that spay/neuter is the rule. Any deviation must be explicitly stated, and thus the burden of obtaining exemptions is on the one seeking them.
(b) For purposes of this statute, “harbor” is defined to include: legal ownership or providing regular care, shelter, protection, refuge, nourishment, or medical treatment other than as a licensed veterinarian; provided, however, that a person or entity does not “harbor” by providing nourishment to a stray or feral dog or cat, and; provided further, however, that caretakers of feral cat colonies shall use their best efforts to have those animals sterilized.
Many “mandatory” spay/neuter statutes labor with considerable difficulty to define exactly to whom the statutes applies. For example, “owners” may not be in possession or control of the animal, or one who is in control may not be the “owner.” Thus, we have selected the word “harbor” and provided the definition appearing here. Excluded from “harboring” are those who feed feral dogs and cats, because in no sense can it be said that the caretakers own or have any control over those animals. However, recognizing that the most one can do with feral populations, especially cats, is feed-trap-neuter-release (other than trap and euthanize, a subject not within the scope of ISAR’s proposed Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute), it is appropriate that those who voluntarily assume the feeding obligation make their best efforts to have the animals sterilized.
Section 3. Breeding licensees; rules and regulations
Caveat: Readers of this section’s title best not jump to conclusions. What follows is not the usual exception to “mandatory” spay/neuter statutes which effectively nullifies such laws by granting exemptions to breeders and those who “show” companion animals.
(a) Other than as expressly provided below, no dog or cat may be legally used for insemination or bred in this state except by an individual or entity holding a breeding license, which may be issued, in its absolute discretion, by the State Department of Animal Affairs or such other department as the governor shall designate.
This section begins with the absolute prohibition against breeding dogs and cats in this state, period. Express and limited exemptions are provided below.
Breeding licenses may, or may not, be issued by a government department. The exercise of “absolute” discretion, even if it results in the non-issuance of a breeding license, is very difficult to overturn in court.
(b) While a breeding license is valid, no subsequent breeding license shall be issued to any individual related to the first licensee by blood or marriage, to any entity related to the original licensee by common officers, directors, stockholders, or trustees, or to any entity controlled by the original licensee. Any license issued in violation of this subsection shall be void ab initio.
This section is aimed at preventing breeders from escaping the limitations contained in Section 4(i) below.
(c) The licensing authority shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement its statutory duties, including but not limited to recordkeeping requirements.
Consistent with general principle of administrative law, the department charged with issuing breeder licenses has virtually unlimited discretion in establishing applicant qualifications and regulating the conduct of licensees.
(d) Such rules and regulations shall include, but need not be limited to, provisions assuring that the animals in the breeding licensee’s care there are provided: sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and water consistent with its breed, size, and age; shelter that will allow the animals to be protected from the elements with room to stand up, turn around, and lie down without lying it its or another animal’s waste; confinement space that is clean and disinfected; an opportunity for adequate sunlight, fresh air, and exercise.
This subsection mandates minimum humane requirements that the license-issuing authority must impose on breeder licensees. It may, of course, impose additional and more stringent requirements.
(e) In addition, breeding licensees shall be required to comply with all other state statutes relating to the care and treatment of dogs and cats.
The purpose of this subsection is to make sure that breeding licensees do not argue that only the mandatory spay/neuter statute governs their conduct. Breeder licensees must comply with anti-cruelty and all other state laws regarding animals.
Section 4. Breeding limitations
(a) A breeding licensee may use a male dog or cat only twice to inseminate a female, which must occur within a twelve month period. No further insemination is allowed thereafter.
(b) A breeding licensee may breed a female cat only twice, which must occur within a twelve month period. No further breeding is allowed thereafter.
These two subsections are designed to end the abuse of animals used for breeding, who in most places today are treated no better than reproductive machines. Veterinarians believe that inseminating and giving birth twice in a twelve month period, with no further insemination or breeding thereafter, is not abusive to the animal.
The subsections, and others that appear below, deliberately and substantially reduce the size of breeder operations.
(c) The offspring of breeder licensee’s dogs and cats may be retained by the breeding licensee, but they shall be subject to the same restrictions as their sires and dams, as shall be succeeding generations.
This subsection allows breeder licensees to retain offspring, but similarly limits their breeding.
(d) The dogs and cats covered by this section regarding insemination and breeding shall be at least four months old, the dogs no older than eighteen months, and the cats no older than twelve months.
This subsection creates a two-month window for insemination and breeding, between ages four and six months. Neither may occur before or after those ages.
(e) Once- or twice-bred female dogs and cats shall be sterilized promptly after
delivery of the female animals’ final litters.
(f) Male dogs and cats shall be sterilized promptly after they have twice inseminated females.
The purpose of subsections (e) and (f) is to turn off the reproductive valve, at least as to those dogs and cats, and to further limit the scope of breeder activities.
(g) Promptly after a male dog or cat has twice inseminated a female, and promptly after a female dog or cat has delivered her final litter, the breeder licensee shall either:
(i) Relinquish such animal to a shelter, humane society, rescue group, or similar organization for adoption only, or
(ii) Directly arrange for adoption, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the nearest shelter, humane society, rescue group, or similar organization; provided, however, that the breeder licensee shall under no circumstances transfer custody of a dog or cat to any individual or entity as to whom the breeder licensee knows, or should know, that the animal will be used for scientific experimental purposes.
In addition to the limitations provided above, these sections will oblige breeder licensees to indirectly or directly find homes for their “breeding stock.” After they have been used this way, they deserve loving homes.
(h) No breeding licensee shall release from its custody any dog or cat that has not
been sterilized, except to provide temporary veterinary care.
This section will prevent breeding stock from going elsewhere to be put through the same reproductive cycle.
(i) No breeding licensee shall possess in any calendar year more than ten unneutered male dogs, ten unneutered male cats, ten unspayed female dogs, and ten unspayed female cats, except for newborn litters which may be kept for no more than three months at which time the provisions of this statute will apply to them.
This section deliberately and substantially limits the scope of breeder operations.
Section 5. Other source dogs and cats
(a) Every individual and entity harboring an unsterilized dog or cat shall immediately present the animal to a licensed veterinarian who shall sterilize it; provided, however, that the animal need not be sterilized if it is, or appears to be, less than three months old.
This section is aimed at the person or entity who is not a breeder licensee. For example, an individual or family who rescues a dog or cat, or who is given one as a gift. The burden is on them to have spay/neuter performed. It is also aimed at whoever receives dogs or cats from out-of-state, whether an individual animal or more than one.
(b) This section does not apply to breeder licensees.
They are covered by sections above.
Section 6. Sellers of dogs and cats
(a) Upon coming into the possession of an unsterilized dog or cat, every individual and entity in the business of selling such animals, including but not limited to pet stores, shall immediately present the animal to a licensed veterinarian who shall sterilize it; provided, however, that the animal need not be sterilized if it is, or appears to be, less than three months old.
This section applies to non-breeder licensee retail sellers of dog and cats. Whatever their source of these animals, as soon as a retail seller comes into possession of them there is a duty of immediate sterilization.
(b) This section shall not apply to breeder licensees.
They are covered by sections above.
Section 7. Medical exceptions to sterilization
(a) No dog or cat need be sterilized if a licensed veterinarian, exercising appropriate professional judgment, shall certify in writing and under oath that an animal is medically unfit for the spay/neuter procedure because of a physical condition which would be substantially aggravated by such procedure or would likely cause the animal’s death.
(b) The dog or cat’s age shall not per se constitute medical unfitness.
(c) As soon as the disqualifying medical condition ceases to exist, it shall be the duty of the person having custody or control of the dog or cat to promptly comply with all provisions of this statute.
(d) Possession of the certificate referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall constitute a defense to liability under the penalty provisions of this statute.
(e) If during the disqualification period the dog or cat breeds, the individual or entity in control of the animal shall be punished in accordance with Section 13 of this statute.
This section provides a safe harbor for those dogs and cats who have bona fide medical reasons not to be neutered. Obviously, this exemption, virtually the only one in ISAR’s Model Mandatory Spay Neuter Statute, is subject to abuse. We hope that veterinarians’ respect for the law generally and what this statute is trying to accomplish in particular, and the requirement that their certification be under oath, will suffice to have medical exemptions granted only when legitimately deserved.
Section 8. Shelters and similar organizations
(a) Shelters, pounds, humane societies, and similar organizations, whether public or private, whose principal purpose is securing the adoption of dogs and cats, shall not be exempt from the provisions of this statute.
(b) No shelter, pound, humane society, or similar organization, whether public or private, whose principal purpose is securing the adoption of dogs and cats, shall release custody of any such animal to its owner or an adopter unless the dog or cat has first been sterilized.
Essentially, this section applies to all companion animal intake and adoption. All dogs and cats taken into these facilities must promptly be neutered. All dogs and cats leaving the shelter will have been neutered, regardless of whether they belong to an identified person or entity.
Section 9. Duties of veterinarians
(a) Any licensed veterinarian who shall become aware that a dog or cat who should be sterilized is in violation of this statute shall promptly inform the person or entity harboring such animal, and further state that the veterinarian has a duty to report that information pursuant to subsection (b) hereof.
This section imposes no more of a burden on veterinarians than those already imposed by law and professional ethics, as for example the duty of informing an animal’s custodian of the risks of surgery or any course of treatment.
(b) If within five business days the person or entity harboring such animal has not shown to the veterinarian’s satisfaction that it has been sterilized, the veterinarian shall report to the enforcing authority the name and contact information of the person harboring such animal and its unsterilized condition.
This section is equivalent in principle to state statutes which require veterinarians to notify public authorities regarding the rabies vaccination of dogs. Moreover, veterinarians already have reporting responsibilities to government agencies, not the least of which pertain to taxes and insurance.
Section 10. Microchipping
Promptly after beginning to harbor a dog or cat, the individual or entity shall have the animal microchipped in accordance with current technology.
The value of this section is self-evident. In addition to public authorities, shelters, and similar organizations being better able to identify lost dogs and cats, mandatory microchipping will facilitate enforcement of the entire mandatory spay/neuter statute.
Section 11. Low-cost spay/neuter
(a) The state shall itself or by contract provide facilities where its citizens can have dogs and cats humanely spayed and neutered by a licensed veterinarian for a fee established by regulation.
(b) The spay/neuter fee to be established by regulation shall be based on ability to pay, and such regulations shall provide for the fee to be waived entirely because of financial hardship.
Virtually every thoughtful person who has seriously addressed the problem of companion animal overpopulation, and organizations like ISAR that propose tough mandatory spay/neuter requirements, realize that success will depend in large part on the ability of low-income custodians of dogs and cats to have their animals neutered. By any calculation—economic, health, humane, moral—state provision of low-cost spay/neuter is eminently necessary and justifiable. (Especially when considered in relation to all the much less worthy projects states support.)
Section 12. Enforcement
Enforcement of this statute shall fall within the jurisdiction of the Attorney General, the Department of Animal Affairs, or such other department as the governor shall designate.
This section expresses a preference for licensing and enforcement to be vested in a department of state government with legal muscle, rather than burying mandatory spay/neuter in some backwater like the Department of Agriculture where it would likely be entrusted to bureaucrats with little or no interest in enforcement.
Section 13. Penalties
(a) The first violation of this statute shall constitute an offense, punishable by a civil fine of $1,000.00.
(b) Each week during which the violation continues will constitute a separate offense for which an additional civil fine of $1,000.00 shall be imposed.
(c) Immediately following the third offense, subsequent violations will be punishable as the lowest grade misdemeanor. The $1,000.00 civil fine will also be imposed for each offense after the first.
Doubtless there will be complaints that this section’s penalties are harsh. They are, and they are meant to be. Once and for all, legislatures, governors, and the regulation/enforcement community must take seriously the problem of companion animal overpopulation—and that seriousness will best be conveyed to the public at large by this section’s harsh punishments for violation. More on this subject is discussed in Chapter X, “Morality and spay/neuter.”
Section 14. Transition
Within sixty days from the effective date of this statute it shall be the responsibility of all those who harbor dogs and cats to be in compliance with this statute.
Some transition time has to be provided, and sixty days seems reasonable.
Section 15. Effective date
This statute will be effective when it is enacted by the legislature and approved by the governor in accordance with state law.
The statute’s sponsors and advocates should resist attempts by its opponents to delay the effective date, during which time they might be able to mount an effective counterattack and perhaps repeal the law or at least gut it.
Section 16. Severability
If any provision of this statute shall be held unconstitutional, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, the remaining provisions shall retain their full status as if the offending provision had not existed.
This section is important legally. If, for example, the veterinarian reporting requirement should be held by a court to be illegal, the balance of the statute would stand.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Websites Providing Information About Animal Law
As a service to the animal law legal community, for general informational purposes, and to demonstrate how much animal law has permeated the American legal culture, ISAR is pleased to provide the names of organizations whose websites provide useful information about that subject.
American Bar Association, Blawg Directory: Animal Law
http://abajournal.com/blawgs/animal+law
Lists the most popular Animal Law Blogs, based on access by ABA members.
American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, Animal Law Committee http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=IL201050
List of American Bar Association programs relating to animal law, and projects of the committee. Also contains archive of committee newsletters.
Animal Law Blog
http://animallawonline.blogspot.com/
Posts news stories pertaining to animal law cases, as well as other animal-related news. Also lists names and links for animal law attorneys nationwide, and state bar associations with animal law sections.
The Animal Law Center
http://www.theanimallawcenter.com/
Animal law firm whose site provides several links to national and international statutes, and other animal law sites.
Animal Law Coalition
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/
Posts breaking animal law news as well as the state of the law, grouped into several different animal law issues. Also contains message board for member and visitor discussion.
Animal Law Resources
http://www.animallawresource.com/
Links to California Animal Law Enforcement Guide. Enforcement The Guide is a .pdf, requiring Adobe Acrobat, and details California animal laws and enforcement powers of officials.
Animal Law Review
https://law.lclark.edu/law_reviews/animal_law_review/
Contains abstracts from past and current animal law articles featured in the Review, as well as links to other animal law organizations.
Animal Legal Defense Fund
http://www.aldf.org/
Contains recent animal law cases and incidences of publicized animal abuse. Also contains information for the general public (abuse statistics and assistance finding animal law attorneys), lay professionals (books, periodicals, and courses), and attorneys (case law, statutes, and legal forms).
Animal Legal Reports Services
http://www.animallegalreports.com/
Subscription service, providing in-depth analysis and commentary on animal law court decisions and their impact.
Animal Protection of New Mexico
http://www.apnm.org/publications/animal_law/index.php
Comprehensive list of New Mexico animal laws by city and county, as well as some state resources and links for understanding and interpreting statutes.
Animal Welfare Institute
http://www.awionline.org/
Has links under the “Government and Legal Affairs” tab to current and pending federal legislation relating to animal issues.
Animallaw.com
http://www.animallaw.com/
Contains numerous animal law statutes and cases, as well as model laws for legislative use. Also contains a searchable bibliography of animal law-related publications, including books, journal and newspaper articles, and government documents.
Anne Arundel County, Maryland, County Code Provisions Relating to Animal Control http://www.aacounty.org/animalcontrol/laws.cfm
Lists local animal law provisions.
Association of Lawyers for Animal Welfare
http://www.alaw.org.uk/
United Kingdom site, containing animal law articles including an international news feed.
Born Free U.S.A.
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/
Includes some current legislation pertaining to animal protection.
Defenders of Wildlife
http://www.defenders.org/index.php
Under “In the Courts” tab, lists issues Defenders of Wildlife pursues in the courts, as well as statutes relevant to animal and environmental.
Dog Bite Law
http://www.dogbitelaw.com/
A collection of national dog bite laws, with links for legal professionals, dog owners, bite victims, and more.
Dog Law
http://doglaw.hugpug.com/index.html
Lists legal resources relating only to dogs, organized by canine activities.
Doris Day Animal League
http://www.ddal.org/
Under “Legislative Update” tab, has links to current animal protection bills. Also has “Resources and Links” tab listing legislative research search engines and tools.
Equine Legal Solutions
http://www.equinelegalsolutions.com/
A collection of legal (and insurance) issues faced by horse-owners.
Florida Animal Law
http://www.floridaanimallaw.com/
Comprehensive list of Florida animal laws, federal animal laws, and animal organizations. Also includes recent news stories regarding animal law topics.
Florida State University College of Law Research Center Blog, Animal Law and Welfare http://guides.law.fsu.edu/c.php?g=84961
Basic news feed of animal law developments.
Free Information on Pet, Dog, Cat, & Horse Laws
http://petcaretips.net/pet_law.html
Basic compilation of links relating to animal laws, divided by species.
George Washington University Law School, Animal Law
http://www.law.gwu.edu/animal-law
Outline of University’s programs, annual conferences, and an animal law news archive.
Georgetown Law Library Animal Law Research Guide
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/guides/AnimalLaw.cfm
Lists of books, periodicals, and websites dealing with animal law, both United States and International. Also includes suggestions for conducting additional research on the topic.
Gonzaga University School of Law Library Animal Law, https://www.law.gonzaga.edu/files/AnimalLaw.pdf
A .pdf file explaining animal law concepts, and good bibliography of cases, books, periodicals, and electronic sites.
Great Ape Project
http://www.greatapeproject.org/
Organization working to give great apes the status of personhood under laws, rather than property. Has a basic “news and information” tab for additional information.
Great Ape Standing and Personhood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_ape_personhood
Site promoting the treatment of great apes as persons for the sake of legal statute enforcement, and promotion of this treatment, eventually, for other animals. Also includes a news feed on the international progress of this movement.
International Institute for Animal Law
http://www.animallawintl.org/
Links to databases of animal law statutes, animal law lectures, and research projects. Site promises to contain recent animal law news “soon.”
International Society for Animal Rights
http://www.isaronline.org/index.htmlwww.isaronline.org
Contains substantial information about animal law, including the first state and federal case ever to mention “animal rights.” Extensive site map.
Johnson County Humane Society
http://johnsoncountyhumane.org/law.html
Lists applicable animal law statutes for Iowa, broken down by county. Also has additional links for federal laws and animal law organizations.
Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy
http://www.jiwlp.com/index.html
List of journal’s articles and instructions for submission, as well as a database search engine focused on international animal law treaties.
King County Law Library Animal Legal Research Guide
http://www.kcll.org/guides/animal-law-guide
Lists animal law sources with an emphasis on Washington State Law. Divides sources into primary and secondary sources, as well as providing additional research tips.
Lawyers.com, Animal Law
http://animal-law.lawyers.com/
Links to some basic animal-law related articles, message boards, and a directory for finding local animal law attorneys.
Louisiana State Bar Association, Animal Law Section
http://www.animallawla.org/index.htm
Very basic site, with information about attorney members of the section and listing of state animal law provisions.
Maryland Pet, Animal Welfare Organizations, Laws and Legislation http://www.marylandpet.com/animal_welfare_laws_legislation.htm
Lists national animal law sites, as well as regional and national animal welfare organizations.
Maryland State Bar Association, Animal Law Section,
http://www.msba.org/sections/animallaw/
Limited website, with section ethics opinions, legislative testimony, and meeting minutes.
Massachusetts Trial Court Law Library
http://www.mass.gov/courts/case-legal-res/law-lib/
Lists Massachusetts animal laws, regulations, and case law, as well as a few additional web resources.
Medlibrary.org
http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Animal_law
Article explaining basics of animal law, as well as links to animal law organizations and a handful of statutes.
Michigan State University College of Law: Animals Legal & Historical Web Center http://www.animallaw.info/
Database with over 800 full-text animal law cases, and 1,000 animal law statutes. Most are U.S., but some international law as well. Comprehensive “Frequently Asked Questions” section for attorneys and non-attorneys, as well as detailed search engine.
Minnesota State Bar Association, Animal Law Section http://www.mnbar.org/members/committees-sections/msba-sections/animal-law-section#.VqKX6JorK70
Basic site with a few practice links and basic information about members of the organization.
Mississippi Canine Coalition, Inc.
http://www.mississippi-canine-coalition.org/home
Lists Mississippi state animal law legislation, with a focus on dog ownership.
National Anti-Vivisection Society
http://www.navs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index
Lists recent and pending legislation regarding animal rights and other developments in the area of animal law.
National Association for Biomedical Research, Animal Law Section
http://www.nabranimallaw.org/
Definitions and summary of anti-cruelty laws and other laws affecting animal-based research. Clearly slanted towards pro-biomedical research.
National Center for Animal Law
https://law.lclark.edu/centers/animal_law_studies/
Contains information about NCAL, different components of the law that make up “animal law,” and career links for animal law-based careers. It also contains information about Lewis and Clark Law School’s animal law curriculum, animal law-based extra curricular activities, and the group’s annual Animal Law Conference
National Institute for Animal Advocacy
http://www.nifaa.org/index.html
Details training program for effective lobbying on behalf of pro-animal legislation.
New Hampshire Animal Law and Animal Rights
http://www.pmorrislaw.com/NH_Animal_Laws.html
Contains New Hampshire animal laws and statutes, web links, and New Hampshire animal news.
New York State Bar Association, Special Committee on Animals and the Law http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Special_Committee_on_Animals_and_the_Law_Home
Lists education programs, relevant statutes, electronic sources and publications relating to animal law, with an emphasis on New York State animal laws.
Open Directory, Society: Issues: Animal Welfare: Legal http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Animal_Welfare/Legal/
A very basic collection of animal law sites, with no real overall theme to provide context.
Orange County Community Resources, Orange County Animal Care
http://ocpetinfo.com/
Basic listing of Orange County, California animal laws.
Pet-Abuse.com,
http://www.pet-abuse.com/
Tracks upcoming animal abuse cases, and other animal-related cases, on dockets nationwide. Also contains chart of animal abuse laws state-by-state.
PetGuardian Pet Trust Plans
http://www.petguardian.com/
Contains information about creating a pet trust for care of pets whose owners predecease them.
Santa Clara Law, Guide to Animal Law
http://lawguides.scu.edu/animal
Links to monographs, journal articles, and electronic resources relating to animal law.
Species Survival Network
http://www.ssn.org/index.htm
Website run by an international coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) committed to the promotion, enhancement, and strict enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Contains information about CITES and other Animal Treaties, as well as recent news.
State Bar of Michigan, Animal Law Section
http://connect.michbar.org/animallaw/home
Variety of information, including a listserv, events, and newletters in addition to news, legislation, and legal resources.
State Bar of Texas, Animal Law Section
http://www.animallawsection.org/
Lists animal law treatises and papers featured in the Section’s Continuing Legal Education presentations. Contains little else.
Suffolk University Law Library: Animal Law
http://www.law.suffolk.edu/library/research/a-z/resguides/animal.cfm
Has links to federal and state law links, books, periodicals, law review articles, and major websites.
United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library, Animal Welfare Information Center, Government and Professional Resources https://awic.nal.usda.gov/government-and-professional-resources
Roundup of federal animal law statutes and regulations. Also has links to state and international statues and regulations.
University of Chicago Law Library, Animal Law and Animal Rights: An Introductory Guide to Selected Resources
http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/lomio_rp6.pdf
Lists a handful of publications and electronic resources. Also includes search tips to find additional sources.
University of Tennessee, Knoxville Law Library
http://law.utk.edu/library/
Lists research guides, journal articles, treatises, and other sources pertaining to animal law. Most concern Tennessee state laws, though some are national.
Washington State Bar Association, Animal Law Section
http://www.wsba.org/Legal-Community/Sections/Animal-Law-Section
Links to information relating to animal law practice in Washington State, including events and newsletters.
Wisconsin State Law Library, Animal Law
http://wilawlibrary.gov/topics/animal.php
Lists Wisconsin local and state statutes and ordinances regulating animal abuse and sales. Also lists national and state agencies engaged in the advocacy and protection of animals.
World Animal Net, Animal Protection Law
http://worldanimal.net/
Good primers on the usefulness of animal law legislation, both national and international, and links to books and electronic resources.
Young Williams Animal Center
http://www.young-williams.org/resources/animal-laws/
Outlines animal laws for various governmental levels, including federal, state (Kentucky), county (Knox), and city (Knoxville) levels.
American Bar Association, Blawg Directory: Animal Law
http://abajournal.com/blawgs/animal+law
Lists the most popular Animal Law Blogs, based on access by ABA members.
American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, Animal Law Committee http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=IL201050
List of American Bar Association programs relating to animal law, and projects of the committee. Also contains archive of committee newsletters.
Animal Law Blog
http://animallawonline.blogspot.com/
Posts news stories pertaining to animal law cases, as well as other animal-related news. Also lists names and links for animal law attorneys nationwide, and state bar associations with animal law sections.
The Animal Law Center
http://www.theanimallawcenter.com/
Animal law firm whose site provides several links to national and international statutes, and other animal law sites.
Animal Law Coalition
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/
Posts breaking animal law news as well as the state of the law, grouped into several different animal law issues. Also contains message board for member and visitor discussion.
Animal Law Resources
http://www.animallawresource.com/
Links to California Animal Law Enforcement Guide. Enforcement The Guide is a .pdf, requiring Adobe Acrobat, and details California animal laws and enforcement powers of officials.
Animal Law Review
https://law.lclark.edu/law_reviews/animal_law_review/
Contains abstracts from past and current animal law articles featured in the Review, as well as links to other animal law organizations.
Animal Legal Defense Fund
http://www.aldf.org/
Contains recent animal law cases and incidences of publicized animal abuse. Also contains information for the general public (abuse statistics and assistance finding animal law attorneys), lay professionals (books, periodicals, and courses), and attorneys (case law, statutes, and legal forms).
Animal Legal Reports Services
http://www.animallegalreports.com/
Subscription service, providing in-depth analysis and commentary on animal law court decisions and their impact.
Animal Protection of New Mexico
http://www.apnm.org/publications/animal_law/index.php
Comprehensive list of New Mexico animal laws by city and county, as well as some state resources and links for understanding and interpreting statutes.
Animal Welfare Institute
http://www.awionline.org/
Has links under the “Government and Legal Affairs” tab to current and pending federal legislation relating to animal issues.
Animallaw.com
http://www.animallaw.com/
Contains numerous animal law statutes and cases, as well as model laws for legislative use. Also contains a searchable bibliography of animal law-related publications, including books, journal and newspaper articles, and government documents.
Anne Arundel County, Maryland, County Code Provisions Relating to Animal Control http://www.aacounty.org/animalcontrol/laws.cfm
Lists local animal law provisions.
Association of Lawyers for Animal Welfare
http://www.alaw.org.uk/
United Kingdom site, containing animal law articles including an international news feed.
Born Free U.S.A.
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/
Includes some current legislation pertaining to animal protection.
Defenders of Wildlife
http://www.defenders.org/index.php
Under “In the Courts” tab, lists issues Defenders of Wildlife pursues in the courts, as well as statutes relevant to animal and environmental.
Dog Bite Law
http://www.dogbitelaw.com/
A collection of national dog bite laws, with links for legal professionals, dog owners, bite victims, and more.
Dog Law
http://doglaw.hugpug.com/index.html
Lists legal resources relating only to dogs, organized by canine activities.
Doris Day Animal League
http://www.ddal.org/
Under “Legislative Update” tab, has links to current animal protection bills. Also has “Resources and Links” tab listing legislative research search engines and tools.
Equine Legal Solutions
http://www.equinelegalsolutions.com/
A collection of legal (and insurance) issues faced by horse-owners.
Florida Animal Law
http://www.floridaanimallaw.com/
Comprehensive list of Florida animal laws, federal animal laws, and animal organizations. Also includes recent news stories regarding animal law topics.
Florida State University College of Law Research Center Blog, Animal Law and Welfare http://guides.law.fsu.edu/c.php?g=84961
Basic news feed of animal law developments.
Free Information on Pet, Dog, Cat, & Horse Laws
http://petcaretips.net/pet_law.html
Basic compilation of links relating to animal laws, divided by species.
George Washington University Law School, Animal Law
http://www.law.gwu.edu/animal-law
Outline of University’s programs, annual conferences, and an animal law news archive.
Georgetown Law Library Animal Law Research Guide
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/guides/AnimalLaw.cfm
Lists of books, periodicals, and websites dealing with animal law, both United States and International. Also includes suggestions for conducting additional research on the topic.
Gonzaga University School of Law Library Animal Law, https://www.law.gonzaga.edu/files/AnimalLaw.pdf
A .pdf file explaining animal law concepts, and good bibliography of cases, books, periodicals, and electronic sites.
Great Ape Project
http://www.greatapeproject.org/
Organization working to give great apes the status of personhood under laws, rather than property. Has a basic “news and information” tab for additional information.
Great Ape Standing and Personhood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_ape_personhood
Site promoting the treatment of great apes as persons for the sake of legal statute enforcement, and promotion of this treatment, eventually, for other animals. Also includes a news feed on the international progress of this movement.
International Institute for Animal Law
http://www.animallawintl.org/
Links to databases of animal law statutes, animal law lectures, and research projects. Site promises to contain recent animal law news “soon.”
International Society for Animal Rights
http://www.isaronline.org/index.htmlwww.isaronline.org
Contains substantial information about animal law, including the first state and federal case ever to mention “animal rights.” Extensive site map.
Johnson County Humane Society
http://johnsoncountyhumane.org/law.html
Lists applicable animal law statutes for Iowa, broken down by county. Also has additional links for federal laws and animal law organizations.
Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy
http://www.jiwlp.com/index.html
List of journal’s articles and instructions for submission, as well as a database search engine focused on international animal law treaties.
King County Law Library Animal Legal Research Guide
http://www.kcll.org/guides/animal-law-guide
Lists animal law sources with an emphasis on Washington State Law. Divides sources into primary and secondary sources, as well as providing additional research tips.
Lawyers.com, Animal Law
http://animal-law.lawyers.com/
Links to some basic animal-law related articles, message boards, and a directory for finding local animal law attorneys.
Louisiana State Bar Association, Animal Law Section
http://www.animallawla.org/index.htm
Very basic site, with information about attorney members of the section and listing of state animal law provisions.
Maryland Pet, Animal Welfare Organizations, Laws and Legislation http://www.marylandpet.com/animal_welfare_laws_legislation.htm
Lists national animal law sites, as well as regional and national animal welfare organizations.
Maryland State Bar Association, Animal Law Section,
http://www.msba.org/sections/animallaw/
Limited website, with section ethics opinions, legislative testimony, and meeting minutes.
Massachusetts Trial Court Law Library
http://www.mass.gov/courts/case-legal-res/law-lib/
Lists Massachusetts animal laws, regulations, and case law, as well as a few additional web resources.
Medlibrary.org
http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Animal_law
Article explaining basics of animal law, as well as links to animal law organizations and a handful of statutes.
Michigan State University College of Law: Animals Legal & Historical Web Center http://www.animallaw.info/
Database with over 800 full-text animal law cases, and 1,000 animal law statutes. Most are U.S., but some international law as well. Comprehensive “Frequently Asked Questions” section for attorneys and non-attorneys, as well as detailed search engine.
Minnesota State Bar Association, Animal Law Section http://www.mnbar.org/members/committees-sections/msba-sections/animal-law-section#.VqKX6JorK70
Basic site with a few practice links and basic information about members of the organization.
Mississippi Canine Coalition, Inc.
http://www.mississippi-canine-coalition.org/home
Lists Mississippi state animal law legislation, with a focus on dog ownership.
National Anti-Vivisection Society
http://www.navs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index
Lists recent and pending legislation regarding animal rights and other developments in the area of animal law.
National Association for Biomedical Research, Animal Law Section
http://www.nabranimallaw.org/
Definitions and summary of anti-cruelty laws and other laws affecting animal-based research. Clearly slanted towards pro-biomedical research.
National Center for Animal Law
https://law.lclark.edu/centers/animal_law_studies/
Contains information about NCAL, different components of the law that make up “animal law,” and career links for animal law-based careers. It also contains information about Lewis and Clark Law School’s animal law curriculum, animal law-based extra curricular activities, and the group’s annual Animal Law Conference
National Institute for Animal Advocacy
http://www.nifaa.org/index.html
Details training program for effective lobbying on behalf of pro-animal legislation.
New Hampshire Animal Law and Animal Rights
http://www.pmorrislaw.com/NH_Animal_Laws.html
Contains New Hampshire animal laws and statutes, web links, and New Hampshire animal news.
New York State Bar Association, Special Committee on Animals and the Law http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Special_Committee_on_Animals_and_the_Law_Home
Lists education programs, relevant statutes, electronic sources and publications relating to animal law, with an emphasis on New York State animal laws.
Open Directory, Society: Issues: Animal Welfare: Legal http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Animal_Welfare/Legal/
A very basic collection of animal law sites, with no real overall theme to provide context.
Orange County Community Resources, Orange County Animal Care
http://ocpetinfo.com/
Basic listing of Orange County, California animal laws.
Pet-Abuse.com,
http://www.pet-abuse.com/
Tracks upcoming animal abuse cases, and other animal-related cases, on dockets nationwide. Also contains chart of animal abuse laws state-by-state.
PetGuardian Pet Trust Plans
http://www.petguardian.com/
Contains information about creating a pet trust for care of pets whose owners predecease them.
Santa Clara Law, Guide to Animal Law
http://lawguides.scu.edu/animal
Links to monographs, journal articles, and electronic resources relating to animal law.
Species Survival Network
http://www.ssn.org/index.htm
Website run by an international coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) committed to the promotion, enhancement, and strict enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Contains information about CITES and other Animal Treaties, as well as recent news.
State Bar of Michigan, Animal Law Section
http://connect.michbar.org/animallaw/home
Variety of information, including a listserv, events, and newletters in addition to news, legislation, and legal resources.
State Bar of Texas, Animal Law Section
http://www.animallawsection.org/
Lists animal law treatises and papers featured in the Section’s Continuing Legal Education presentations. Contains little else.
Suffolk University Law Library: Animal Law
http://www.law.suffolk.edu/library/research/a-z/resguides/animal.cfm
Has links to federal and state law links, books, periodicals, law review articles, and major websites.
United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library, Animal Welfare Information Center, Government and Professional Resources https://awic.nal.usda.gov/government-and-professional-resources
Roundup of federal animal law statutes and regulations. Also has links to state and international statues and regulations.
University of Chicago Law Library, Animal Law and Animal Rights: An Introductory Guide to Selected Resources
http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/lomio_rp6.pdf
Lists a handful of publications and electronic resources. Also includes search tips to find additional sources.
University of Tennessee, Knoxville Law Library
http://law.utk.edu/library/
Lists research guides, journal articles, treatises, and other sources pertaining to animal law. Most concern Tennessee state laws, though some are national.
Washington State Bar Association, Animal Law Section
http://www.wsba.org/Legal-Community/Sections/Animal-Law-Section
Links to information relating to animal law practice in Washington State, including events and newsletters.
Wisconsin State Law Library, Animal Law
http://wilawlibrary.gov/topics/animal.php
Lists Wisconsin local and state statutes and ordinances regulating animal abuse and sales. Also lists national and state agencies engaged in the advocacy and protection of animals.
World Animal Net, Animal Protection Law
http://worldanimal.net/
Good primers on the usefulness of animal law legislation, both national and international, and links to books and electronic resources.
Young Williams Animal Center
http://www.young-williams.org/resources/animal-laws/
Outlines animal laws for various governmental levels, including federal, state (Kentucky), county (Knox), and city (Knoxville) levels.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Overview of ISAR’s Revolutionary Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute
ISAR is pleased to announce that its new monograph, ISAR’s Revolutionary Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute is now available at its website, http://www.isaronline.org/, under Site Map/LAW/Monographs. (See our blog of Wednesday, July 2, 2008, for the Table of Contents). We encourage constructive comments.
Counting the six appendices—which provide extensive bibliographies of books, articles and statutes relating to mandatory spay/neuter, legal cases directly and indirectly on that subject, and a lengthy resource explaining the legislative process generally and how animal advocates can use it to achieve their goals—the monograph is 125 pages long. Interested persons are encouraged to download and/or print it, and they may reproduce the monograph in accordance with the permission conditions that appear on the copyright page.
The Introduction explains the context in which the monograph has been written, which is that mandatory spay/neuter “laws must be grounded not in hope, sentiment, or a benevolent opinion of mankind, but rather in the world as we find it—a real world where companion animals are too often thought of as virtually inanimate objects, mere property to be used and abused by humans.”
Part A, “The Policy Component of the Companion Animal Overpopulation Problem,” establishes the foundation premises upon which rest the remainder of the monograph: that there is today a huge national problem of companion animal overpopulation (Chapter I), that at present the only way to ameliorate it is through spay/neuter (Chapter II), and that these medical procedures must be made mandatory (Chapter III).
Part B, “The Legal Component of the Companion Animal Overpopulation Problem,” is necessarily the next consideration because if spay/neuter is to be mandatory, statutes of state-wide application will have to be enacted. To understand fully ISAR’s Revolutionary Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute and the philosophy that underlies it, an analysis is necessary of existing spay/neuter statutes (Chapter IV). Only against that background can ISAR’s model statute be understood and appreciated (Chapter V). Once one is talking statutes, inevitably the question of constitutionality or unconstitutionality arises, a crucial consideration for mandatory spay/neuter legislation (Chapter VI). Finally, once the constitutional hurdle is surmounted, other related issues arise (Chapter VII): For purposes of enforcement and otherwise, how to identify all companion animals; low-cost spay/neuter for the indigent; early-age spay/neuter; Departments of Animal Affairs.
Part C, “The Legislative Component of the Companion Animal Overpopulation Problem,” reveals how even the worst alleged “mandatory spay/neuter” statutes can be subverted by politicians, as recently occurred in California (Chapter VIII). As an antidote to fruitless lobbying and craven legislators, ISAR presents a powerful resource for animal advocates who seek to maximize their chance of getting legislation introduced and enacted (Chapter IX).
Part D, “Morality and Spay Neuter” (Chapter X) makes the case that animal protection, and mandatory spay/neuter as one element in accomplishing that task, is at root a moral issue. The chapter concludes with the thought that “[a]s ISAR’s national billboards beseech the public: “Spay/Neuter: It Reduces the Killing.”
Counting the six appendices—which provide extensive bibliographies of books, articles and statutes relating to mandatory spay/neuter, legal cases directly and indirectly on that subject, and a lengthy resource explaining the legislative process generally and how animal advocates can use it to achieve their goals—the monograph is 125 pages long. Interested persons are encouraged to download and/or print it, and they may reproduce the monograph in accordance with the permission conditions that appear on the copyright page.
The Introduction explains the context in which the monograph has been written, which is that mandatory spay/neuter “laws must be grounded not in hope, sentiment, or a benevolent opinion of mankind, but rather in the world as we find it—a real world where companion animals are too often thought of as virtually inanimate objects, mere property to be used and abused by humans.”
Part A, “The Policy Component of the Companion Animal Overpopulation Problem,” establishes the foundation premises upon which rest the remainder of the monograph: that there is today a huge national problem of companion animal overpopulation (Chapter I), that at present the only way to ameliorate it is through spay/neuter (Chapter II), and that these medical procedures must be made mandatory (Chapter III).
Part B, “The Legal Component of the Companion Animal Overpopulation Problem,” is necessarily the next consideration because if spay/neuter is to be mandatory, statutes of state-wide application will have to be enacted. To understand fully ISAR’s Revolutionary Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute and the philosophy that underlies it, an analysis is necessary of existing spay/neuter statutes (Chapter IV). Only against that background can ISAR’s model statute be understood and appreciated (Chapter V). Once one is talking statutes, inevitably the question of constitutionality or unconstitutionality arises, a crucial consideration for mandatory spay/neuter legislation (Chapter VI). Finally, once the constitutional hurdle is surmounted, other related issues arise (Chapter VII): For purposes of enforcement and otherwise, how to identify all companion animals; low-cost spay/neuter for the indigent; early-age spay/neuter; Departments of Animal Affairs.
Part C, “The Legislative Component of the Companion Animal Overpopulation Problem,” reveals how even the worst alleged “mandatory spay/neuter” statutes can be subverted by politicians, as recently occurred in California (Chapter VIII). As an antidote to fruitless lobbying and craven legislators, ISAR presents a powerful resource for animal advocates who seek to maximize their chance of getting legislation introduced and enacted (Chapter IX).
Part D, “Morality and Spay Neuter” (Chapter X) makes the case that animal protection, and mandatory spay/neuter as one element in accomplishing that task, is at root a moral issue. The chapter concludes with the thought that “[a]s ISAR’s national billboards beseech the public: “Spay/Neuter: It Reduces the Killing.”
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Case Against Zoos
There are many arguments against the existence of zoos, and there are many articles and some books that make a convincing case for their closure. (Among the latter is Peter Batten’s Living Trophies.) Some, but by no means all, of those arguments are:
· Zoo animals are often acquired from dealers who, in turn, have obtained them by brutal means.
· They are transported to their destinations, often over great distances, in a primitive manner with little, if any, regard to what kind of treatment their species requires.
· They are subject to attacks by vandals, and even psychopaths.
· They are often held in sterile cells or cages, suffering the debilitating effects of solitary confinement.
· They receive inadequate nutrition, eating unpalatable synthetic food, and inadequate medical care, suffering illness and disease, because of zoos’ financial constraints and zookeepers’ indifference.
· They are traded like baseball cards among zoos and other animal exhibitors, to satisfy perceived display needs.
· They are cross-bred, creating animals called “tigons” or “ligers,” that are, Frankenstein-like, neither tigers or lions.
· They are denied the life dictated by their genes and nature.
These are but a few of the reasons zoos should cease to exist, and each of them have been elaborated at great length elsewhere.
But the most fundamental objection to zoos, understood and expressed by only a small segment of today’s animal rights movement, is that zoos are an immoral enterprise because they exploit and abuse living creatures for the entertainment of the crowd, and in so doing so cause and perpetuate immeasurable suffering.
Zoos are an outrageous affront to the nature and dignity of the animals imprisoned there. The humans who gawk at zoo inhabitants are co-conspirators in the crime perpetrated against the captive animals.
Why, then, do they exist?
Geordie Duckler has written incisively at 3 Animal Law 189 (1997) that:
Zoo animals are currently regarded as objects by the state and federal courts and are perceived as manifesting the legal attributes of amusement parks. The few tort [civil wrong] liability cases directly involving zoos tend to view them as markets rather than as preserves; the park animals are viewed as dangerous recreational machinery more akin to roller coasters or Ferris wheels than to living creatures. Courts typically treat zoo keepers and owners as mechanics and manual laborers responsible for the maintenance of these dangerous instrumentalities. Disputes concerning the possession, sale and care of exotic animals, as well as the administration of the habitats in which such animals are housed, have also been treated by the courts in terms of control of materials for public exhibit and entertainment.
Note the words that I have italicized, chosen carefully by Duckler to describe captive animals imprisoned in zoos: objects, machinery, instrumentalities, materials.
In other words, zoo animals, though living creatures, are nothing more than inanimate objects.
Consider that. Primates, large cats, the magnificent elephants are no different from chairs, cars, xrays, yarn.
How, one may ask, is this possible conceptually? How can animals, that breathe, eat, drink, sleep, walk, climb, run, copulate, fear, nurture, reproduce, be considered mere inanimate objects?
Putting aside bloody biblical texts, Greco-Roman barbarity, and the influential anti-animal views of Thomas Aquinas, the father of current prevailing attitudes about animals was renowned Christian philosopher-mathematician Rene Descartes. He held that animals were automatons—literally. Decartes asserted that lacking a Christian “soul,” they possessed no consciousness. Lacking a consciousness, he concluded, they experienced neither pleasure nor pain.
Decartes’s belief was a convenient one because it allowed him to rationalize the dissection of unanesthetized living creatures—all in the name of advancing the knowledge of anatomy.
If “advancing knowledge” as a rationale sounds familiar, let’s look at some of the major excuses, but certainly not legitimate justifications, for the existence of zoos today.
They supposedly “teach people about animals”—as the captive creatures pace interminably in cages, often in solitary confinement, or inhabit the same indoor/outdoor enclosure for life while humans throw them Cracker Jacks.
They allegedly “provide scientists an opportunity to study them”—while they no longer act as their genes and instinct drive them, neither seeking food nor roaming through natural habitats.
They presumably support “breeding programs,” especially of endangered species, both as an end in itself and to use the animals as barter with other zoos.
Even if these and other “practical” rationalizations for the existence of zoos were defensible, and they are not, none of them should be allowed to trump the fact that zoos are an immoral enterprise because they exploit and abuse living creatures for the entertainment of the crowd, and in so doing so cause and perpetuate immeasurable suffering.
Zoos are an outrageous affront to the nature and dignity of the animals imprisoned there. The humans who gawk at zoo inhabitants are co-conspirators in the crime perpetrated against the captive animals.
It is in the name of moral principle that zoos should be abolished, for the benefit of the captive “living trophies” and in the name of humane principle.
· Zoo animals are often acquired from dealers who, in turn, have obtained them by brutal means.
· They are transported to their destinations, often over great distances, in a primitive manner with little, if any, regard to what kind of treatment their species requires.
· They are subject to attacks by vandals, and even psychopaths.
· They are often held in sterile cells or cages, suffering the debilitating effects of solitary confinement.
· They receive inadequate nutrition, eating unpalatable synthetic food, and inadequate medical care, suffering illness and disease, because of zoos’ financial constraints and zookeepers’ indifference.
· They are traded like baseball cards among zoos and other animal exhibitors, to satisfy perceived display needs.
· They are cross-bred, creating animals called “tigons” or “ligers,” that are, Frankenstein-like, neither tigers or lions.
· They are denied the life dictated by their genes and nature.
These are but a few of the reasons zoos should cease to exist, and each of them have been elaborated at great length elsewhere.
But the most fundamental objection to zoos, understood and expressed by only a small segment of today’s animal rights movement, is that zoos are an immoral enterprise because they exploit and abuse living creatures for the entertainment of the crowd, and in so doing so cause and perpetuate immeasurable suffering.
Zoos are an outrageous affront to the nature and dignity of the animals imprisoned there. The humans who gawk at zoo inhabitants are co-conspirators in the crime perpetrated against the captive animals.
Why, then, do they exist?
Geordie Duckler has written incisively at 3 Animal Law 189 (1997) that:
Zoo animals are currently regarded as objects by the state and federal courts and are perceived as manifesting the legal attributes of amusement parks. The few tort [civil wrong] liability cases directly involving zoos tend to view them as markets rather than as preserves; the park animals are viewed as dangerous recreational machinery more akin to roller coasters or Ferris wheels than to living creatures. Courts typically treat zoo keepers and owners as mechanics and manual laborers responsible for the maintenance of these dangerous instrumentalities. Disputes concerning the possession, sale and care of exotic animals, as well as the administration of the habitats in which such animals are housed, have also been treated by the courts in terms of control of materials for public exhibit and entertainment.
Note the words that I have italicized, chosen carefully by Duckler to describe captive animals imprisoned in zoos: objects, machinery, instrumentalities, materials.
In other words, zoo animals, though living creatures, are nothing more than inanimate objects.
Consider that. Primates, large cats, the magnificent elephants are no different from chairs, cars, xrays, yarn.
How, one may ask, is this possible conceptually? How can animals, that breathe, eat, drink, sleep, walk, climb, run, copulate, fear, nurture, reproduce, be considered mere inanimate objects?
Putting aside bloody biblical texts, Greco-Roman barbarity, and the influential anti-animal views of Thomas Aquinas, the father of current prevailing attitudes about animals was renowned Christian philosopher-mathematician Rene Descartes. He held that animals were automatons—literally. Decartes asserted that lacking a Christian “soul,” they possessed no consciousness. Lacking a consciousness, he concluded, they experienced neither pleasure nor pain.
Decartes’s belief was a convenient one because it allowed him to rationalize the dissection of unanesthetized living creatures—all in the name of advancing the knowledge of anatomy.
If “advancing knowledge” as a rationale sounds familiar, let’s look at some of the major excuses, but certainly not legitimate justifications, for the existence of zoos today.
They supposedly “teach people about animals”—as the captive creatures pace interminably in cages, often in solitary confinement, or inhabit the same indoor/outdoor enclosure for life while humans throw them Cracker Jacks.
They allegedly “provide scientists an opportunity to study them”—while they no longer act as their genes and instinct drive them, neither seeking food nor roaming through natural habitats.
They presumably support “breeding programs,” especially of endangered species, both as an end in itself and to use the animals as barter with other zoos.
Even if these and other “practical” rationalizations for the existence of zoos were defensible, and they are not, none of them should be allowed to trump the fact that zoos are an immoral enterprise because they exploit and abuse living creatures for the entertainment of the crowd, and in so doing so cause and perpetuate immeasurable suffering.
Zoos are an outrageous affront to the nature and dignity of the animals imprisoned there. The humans who gawk at zoo inhabitants are co-conspirators in the crime perpetrated against the captive animals.
It is in the name of moral principle that zoos should be abolished, for the benefit of the captive “living trophies” and in the name of humane principle.
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