Legal Niches

Sunstein Confirmed!

Posted on September 10, 2009
57 -40.   Sweet!

Animal Law Symposium This Weekend

Posted on September 10, 2009
At Lewis & Clark: The Science, Ethics & Law of Animal Testing in the 21st Century:  Are We on the Verge of a Paradigm Shift? Full skinny available at: http://www.lclark.edu/law/centers/animal_law_studies/nas_symposium/index.php –David Cassuto

Some Blawg News

Posted on September 09, 2009
As regular readers know, I teach animal law both at Pace Law School (which is my academic home) and at Fordham Law School.  The number of students interested in animal law has grown exponentially in the 6 years I have been teaching the course and interacting with students — a number of whom have gone [...

Sunstein Filibuster Broken

Posted on September 09, 2009
The Senate voted 65-35 today to block cloture on the Sunstein appointment.  That means an up or down vote on his appointment will likely happen later this week.  A little more here.  The wingnut jamboree continues, however,  as Glenn Beck has thrown his formidable lack of sense or decorum into the fray...

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A Sub-Optimal Ruling on the Rocky Mountain Wolf Hunt

Posted on September 09, 2009
Judge Molloy has refused to stop the wolf hunt that has already begun in Idaho and will soon begin (September 15th) in Montana.  Yet his decision to deny the preliminary injunction sought by Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, the Humane Society & others does  acknowledge that the plaintiffs will likely prevail (eventually) on the merits...

California?s ?Pet Responsibility Act?

Posted on September 09, 2009
The California Legislature is once again attempting to control pet overpopulation through proposed bill SB 250 “Pet Responsibility Act” which outlines how owners must sterilize their cats/dogs.  The bill also imposes a penalty for violating these sterilization guidelines except in specified circumstances...

What ?Cage-Free? Means ? An Appeal from the RSPCA in England

Posted on September 07, 2009
The RSPCA is asking for your help.   The EU recently passed legislation designed to improve chicken welfare.  Unfortunately, the legislation is drafted in such a way as to allow more chickens to be packed into “rearing sheds.”   Already, the chickens lack the space to move or flap their wings; it’s the equivalent of a [...

Sunstein Update — No Recess for the Nutjobs

Posted on September 05, 2009
The congressional recess hasn’t stopped the wingnutathon against Cass Sunstein’s nomination to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. This opinion piece looks to rally all right-thinking Americans against radical ideas like: “[T]he law should impose further regulation on hunting, scientific experiments, entertainment, and (above all) farming to ensure against unnecessary animal suffering...

Radio as Animal Enterprise ? Some Further Thoughts on AETA

Posted on September 05, 2009
The Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for downing two towers in Snohomish County, Washington.  The ELF statements declared that: “AM radio waves cause adverse health effects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and intercom lines...

Stores, Food, Dogs and Oregon

Posted on September 04, 2009
Apparently, folks in Portland like to bring companion animals into food stores, a predilection that the Oregon Agriculture Department (Food Safety Division) wishes to discourage. The law states that only “service” animals may enter food stores...

Thinking of Going into Animal Law?

Posted on September 03, 2009
Read this. Some how-to advice from one of the field’s rising stars. –David Cassuto

Wolf Hunt Update

Posted on September 02, 2009
The wolf hunt in Idaho and Montana has begun (I first blogged about it here). A number of environmental groups sued, asking for an injunction but, since Idaho released the details of its plan of the hunt only 2 weeks ago, the court was left with very little time to consider the case...

PETA’s Use of Women

Posted on August 31, 2009
PETA takes a lot of grief from the animal advocacy community and from feminists for its use of naked or sparsely clad women in its public events. This blogger offers a contrasting view. For my part, though I find the controversy surrounding PETA’s methods interesting and worth having, I worry that the resulting schisms in [...

Publishing Opportunity for Non-fiction Animal Prose

Posted on August 31, 2009
from the email… Call for Submissions: Animals For an upcoming issue, Creative Nonfiction is seeking new essays about the bonds-emotional, ethical, biological, physical, or otherwise-between humans and animals. We're looking for stories that illustrate ways animals (wild and/or domestic) affect, enrich, or otherwise have an impact on our daily lives...

Bestiality and the Sex Offender Registry

Posted on August 30, 2009
If you were wondering whether judges in Kansas were paid enough, the answer is “NO.” Judges in Kansas have to sometimes decide whether a person caught en flagrante with his ex-girlfriend’s dog (after sneaking into her garage) should have to register as a sex offender...

Ted Kennedy & Animals

Posted on August 27, 2009
Ted Kennedy’s death is a great loss for all kinds of reasons but not much of the eulogizing has focused on his animal advocacy. This piece does a nice job of summarizing the Senator’s long-time devotion to animal causes — from animal fighting, to factory farming, to seal hunting, he sometimes led, sometimes followed, but [...

IUCN Study of Elephant Meat Trade — Consulting Opportunity

Posted on August 26, 2009
From the email — an opportunity to lead a study for the IUCN Species Survival Commission on the elephant bushmeat issue in Central Africa. Note the looming application deadline. The Impact of the Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa Call for Applications - Deadline 4 September 2009 1...

Update on Westlaw Unfair Treatment Post – Victory for Puerto Rican Law Schools

Posted on August 26, 2009
After a conversation with University of Puerto Rico Law School Dean Aponte-Toro and Professor Jos Juli n Alvarez, Thomson Reuters executives decided to reinstate printer services to Puerto Rican law schools. Thanks to all who helped! Luis Chiesa

Westlaw Puerto Rico Unfair Treatment

Posted on August 24, 2009
Given that issues related to animal law are directly and indirectly referenced in various Thomson Reuters casebooks and hornbooks, I want to share with Animal Blawg readers a couple of e-mails that highlight a policy adopted by the legal publishing giant in charge of Westlaw and Foundation Press that seems to discriminate against students at [...

Deer Culling in Westchester ? Rhetoric vs. Reality

Posted on August 23, 2009
I recently received the email below from my colleague (and occasional guest-blogger), Vanessa Merton.  I found the topic so interesting (and topical — see the panther post below) and the email such a good read that I asked her if I could post it on the blawg...

Panthers in the Suburbs

Posted on August 22, 2009
[The op-ed below appeared in the Westchester Herald (ten or so pages after Ed Koch's movie review and immediately following  Congressmember Nina Lowey's piece on health care reform).  It deals with recent sightings of what appear to be a large cat in the New York suburbs...

Another Look at Banning Depictions of Cruelty to Animals

Posted on August 21, 2009
John A. Humbach, Pace University School of law As most readers here know, in United States v. Stevens, 533 F.3d 218 (3d Cir. 2008), the Third Circuit struck down the Federal statute (18 U.S.C. § 48) that prohibited the creation, sale or possession of media depicting cruelty to animals...

First Animal Blawg Poll ? Why do you believe Veganism is Morally Appealing?

Posted on August 21, 2009
Given that polls about veganism seem to be the cool thing to do these days, here’s my first foray into the internet polling world. Check out the poll’s format. Isn’t it way cooler than the one used by Leiter for his veganism poll? Luis Chiesa

Leiter Poll ? The Sequel

Posted on August 16, 2009
Brian Leiter has reported the results of his poll here and contributed his own analysis of veganism, which he concludes to be a “kind of harmless and in many ways sweet eccentricity.”  I am omitting his preceding discussion, which is quite thoughtful and interesting and bears reading in its entirety...

More on the Meat/Climate Change Nexus

Posted on August 14, 2009
The link between livestock agriculture (particularly but not exclusively industrial agriculture) and climate change is getting some serious discussion, albeit not by those who actually pass laws about such things.  I’ve blogged about the issue here and am finishing up an essay for the Animals & Society Institute on CAFOs and climate change...

Who Gets to Know What About Whom Regarding Animal Experimentation

Posted on August 13, 2009
Guest blogger: Vanessa Merton I know absolutely nothing about the legal merit of the ruling described below, but it raises the question whether personal identifier data about particular individual researchers legitimately should be withheld from these reports, in an era when scientists like Dr...

Vegetarianism is Immoral??

Posted on August 12, 2009
Apropos of the dustup surrounding the Leiter Poll, this guy over at the National Review thinks vegetarianism (and, one would assume, veganism) is immoral.  His argument is beyond shallow but that’s the way these things sometimes go. H/T: Animal Ethics...

Bill to Ban Canned Hunting in NY in the Pipeline

Posted on August 12, 2009
Once upon a time, the NY State Legislature passed a bill outlawing canned hunting only to have then Governor Pataki veto it.  The current law permits canned hunts except that the animals can’t be tied to a stationary object of confined in a pen or box...

Dorf on Leiter?s Poll ? A Must Read!

Posted on August 10, 2009
Cornell’s Michael Dorf recently posted a very witty response to Leiter’s veganism poll. In my first post on the subject I took issue with  the poll’s “veganism is disgusting? alternative. Professor Dorf believes that the proposed poll responses “trivialize veganism”...

More on Leiter?s Veganism Poll

Posted on August 10, 2009
Surprisingly, my recent post about Professor Leiter’s poll on “attitudes toward veganism”  seems to have sparked substantial interest among AnimalBlawg readers. Given the attention that the post has received, I want to keep readers updated on a couple of developments regarding this topic...

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