Disentangling the Intricate Web of Confusion
In 1976 at the RSPCA's Rights of Animals symposium at Trinity College
in Cambridge, England, I heard Lord Houghton of Sowerby say, "My
message is that animal welfare, in the general and in the particular, is
largely a matter for the law."
Fast-forward
35 years to Barcelona, Spain, where I recalled Lord Houghton in the
presentation I made last week at Europe's first conference on animals
and the law.
Hosted by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, "Animals & the Law"
brought together for two days legal scholars, public policy makers and
animal advocates like myself from Europe, including Spain, Belgium,
France and the U.K., as well as from Australia, Canada and the United
States.
The conference organizer, Professor Teresa
Giménez-Candela, who also established Europe's first Master in Animal
Law and Society at UAB, wrote recently, "If you care about animals, make
them your profession. If you work with animals, improve your
education."
Along with the exciting news that the Center for Animal Law Studies
at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, will be hosting the
world's first Advanced Degree in Animal Law, it is heartening to see
Lord Houghton's advice being taken seriously at last throughout the
world. As he said, "There is no complete substitute for the law. Public
opinion, though invaluable and indeed essential, is not the law. Public
opinion is what makes laws possible and observance widely acceptable."
With the rapid growth in Human-Animal Studies, which I wrote about recently here,
Animal Law is, perhaps, in an even more advanced state of development,
particularly in the U.S. There is, of course, no competition between
them. They are both equally needed to help us disentangle the intricate
web of confusion and collusion we have spun in our complex relations
with animals. Understanding how they figure in our lives and they in
ours, as well as developing a body of law giving animals protection,
including moral and legal rights -- both HAS and Animal Law are
essential.
Speakers at the Animals & the Law conference in
Barcelona tended to either focus on specific aspects or, like me, took
the opportunity to look at the topic more broadly.
Prof. Georges
Chapouthier provided an overview of how animals are and could be viewed
in the eyes of the law. Veterinarian Andrea Gavinelli, head of the
European Union's Animal Welfare Unit, described how the EU is working to
improve the ways in which animals are used. Professor Giménez-Candela
also considered the changing status of animals within European codes.
Marlene Wartenberg, director of European Policy for Vier Pfoten in
Brussels, and Enrique Alonso Garcia, former negotiator for the Spanish
government, focussed on Article 13 in the European Union treaty, which
addresses animal welfare and how it can and should be utilized to
further the interests of animals.
For an international perspective
outside of Europe, American law professors David Favre and Steven Wise
explored pet trusts and legal personhoods respectively. Martine
Lachance, who established the International Research Group in Animal Law
and teaches at the University of Quebec in Montreal, described the
challenges and opportunities to the legal status of animals in Canada.
Australian Rod Bennison (CEO of Minding Animals) considered greyhounds
and how they are socially constructed and how this impacts their legal
status. Celeste Black of the University of Sydney detailed the federal
governments response to the public outcry to how cattle and sheep
exported from Australia are treated and slaughtered in Indonesia.
My presentation, "Animal Rights and Public Policy,"
challenged people to understand the single greatest obstacle we face is
establishing moral and legal rights for animals as a legitimate
mainstream public policy issue.
"Campaigning for personal change
will persuade some people, indeed, a minority of people, to change their
hearts, minds and lifestyles," I said. "But only public policy will
achieve institutional change in society. Personal change changes one
person at a time. Institutional change changes society. What we have to
discover is how to achieve institutional change so that the values of
animal rights are embedded into society along with human rights."
The
conference concluded with law students making brief presentations
exploring such issues as the design of enclosures used in zoos and their
impact on animal welfare, and whether Spanish law could adopt similar
institutions as pet trusts as they have been in the U.S.
Professor
Teresa Giménez-Candela is to be congratulated for organizing such a
successful conference and establishing the first Master in Animal Law
and Society program in Europe.
Kim W. Stallwood
Published by admin on 12/26/2011 12:46:45
