Animal Ethics

APRIL 4, 2007

Hello Keith: I recently completed a documentary on the science, ethics, and politics of animal agriculture entitled "Beyond Closed Doors." The film contains personal interviews with prominent professionals such as Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. Bernard Rollin, Dr. John Webster, Steve Wise, and many others.

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Animal Ethics

MARCH 12, 2009

He believed, of course, that one ought always to do one's duty and also that only acts motivated by respect for moral law have moral worth. Kant's ethics is as much an ethics of self-esteem as it is an ethics of duty.

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Animal Ethics

JANUARY 7, 2015

To the Editor: As Mark Bittman rightly notes, California’s new farm animal welfare law presages what is coming for all farm animal industries nationally (“ Hens, Unbound ,” column, Jan.

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Animal Ethics

APRIL 23, 2008

For every person, being a subject of interests, has rights, i.e., has a claim to respect of his interests under the law of equality of persons. Under the moral law, all beings who have interests are subjects of rights, while all those who in addition to having interests, are capable of grasping the demands of duty, are subjects of duties.

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Animal Ethics

OCTOBER 6, 2009

At issue in the case is the constitutionality of a decade old law passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1999. That law, U.S. The law also made it a crime to sell videos in which animals were tortured to death by being burned alive, as well as videos of illegal dog fights. Today, the U.S. I don’t think so.

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Animal Ethics

AUGUST 11, 2010

2): We disagree with your contention that the First Amendment protects animal “crush” videos. Stevens , the Supreme Court last year overturned a 1999 law banning depictions of animal cruelty on the grounds of overbreadth. The justices were legitimately concerned that the law could impede valid speech. In United States v.

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Animal Ethics

JULY 12, 2010

In late June, a compromise was reached in Ohio that will gradually put an end to the tiny pens used for raising veal calves and holding pregnant sows, spaces so small the animals can barely move. In California last week, Gov. This requirement would at least relieve the worst of the production horrors that are common in the industry now.

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Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

Hi Professor Burgess-Jackson, I just wanted to let you know that I recently launched an animal law blog with a couple of my colleagues at Pace Law School. I was wondering whether you could write an entry in your animal law blog announcing our website. Perhaps you will find it interesting. Warm regards, Luis

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Animal Ethics

SEPTEMBER 26, 2009

19): The Supreme Court should reinstate a crucial 1999 federal law banning the commercial sale of videos depicting animal cruelty. Now that the law has been struck down, there has been a resurgence in these snuff films readily available for sale over the Internet. This is not speech.

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Animal Ethics

JANUARY 19, 2013

Here is an essay by law professor Gary Francione.

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Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Instead it aids industry boards that exist solely to sell animal products. Because Congress has pre-empted the field, states have been unable to enact additional laws that require meat producers to provide consumers with accurate and relevant product information. It also provides tax incentives to factory-farmers.

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Animal Ethics

MARCH 6, 2014

BRUCE FRIEDRICH Senior Policy Director Farm Sanctuary Washington, March 4, 2014 To the Editor: The humane laws for hens in California that provide them more space in which to live should be countrywide. People seem to lose sight of the fact that these are sentient animals, not food machines! Chickens deserve to live humanely.

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Animal Ethics

OCTOBER 9, 2009

To the Editor: Re “ Animal Cruelty and Free Speech ” (editorial, Oct. 6): I do not agree that “anyone with an appreciation for the First Amendment” must conclude that “crush videos” or videos of vicious dogfights are protected speech and that the federal law in question should therefore be struck down. Stephen Clark Albany, Oct.

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Animal Ethics

MARCH 27, 2009

But aside from the fact that the truth of this ethical assumption is not obvious, it is not true that monkeys are man’s nearest relatives. Hume’s Law says that one cannot infer an “ought” statement from an “is” statement. But it is questionable whether they should perform them.

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Animal Ethics

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

But prejudices die hard, all the more so when, as in the present case, they are insulated by widespread secular customs and religious beliefs, sustained by large and powerful economic interests, and protected by the common law. The animal rights movement is not for the faint of heart. Might does not make right; might does make law.

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Animal Ethics

JULY 21, 2010

The California law adds an arbitrary and unscientific requirement that chickens be prohibited from touching one another or the side of any enclosure. The new law will cost American family farmers, and ultimately California consumers, hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Animal Ethics

JULY 19, 2011

It could take up to 18 years for them to be phased in, if the law should pass. The use of wire cages isn’t being addressed, but should be in the future. We are headed in the right direction, but need to fight to push the changes through. A factory-farmed egg-producing hen’s lifespan is less than two years.

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Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

If nonhuman animals are to be granted legal rights, it will be through legislation or common-law adjudication, not constitutional adjudication. As always, PETA is more concerned about drawing attention to itself than it is to improving the legal status of nonhuman animals.

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Animal Ethics

JULY 31, 2008

I agree with Nicholas Kristof that factory farms will eventually be banned by law. I also agree that it will be a good thing. Addendum: Here are comments on Kristof's column.

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Animal Ethics

MARCH 16, 2008

One key solution, as you note, rests with the United States Senate: the Law of the Sea Convention. Ratification of the Law of the Sea would send an important message to the more than 150 countries that have already joined the treaty, including all of our allies, that we are committed partners in protecting the planet and its people.

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Animal Ethics

AUGUST 9, 2007

Resorting to violence against person or property is not in the long-term best interests of animals, as Peter Singer has argued. Those who break duly enacted laws should be punished. All of us are entitled to work within the political system to enact laws we believe just and to repeal or amend laws we believe unjust.

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Animal Ethics

OCTOBER 29, 2008

In all these cases, of course, a minority opinion would support laws which go further than the present laws in limiting the circumstances in which men are entitled to cause pain to animals. Man-hunting is ruled out as a sport but not, at least with the same degree of unanimity, fox or bird hunting.

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Animal Ethics

MARCH 8, 2009

KBJ: This is true of every normative ethical theory, from natural law to divine command to utilitarianism to egoism to contractarianism to Kantian deontology. There are many complex problems connected with moral vegetarianism, and a fully articulate and comprehensive moral vegetarianism is yet to be produced.

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Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 27, 2011

In law, this is called fraud. That scientists have not done this is the best evidence yet that they are advocates rather than, as they purport to be, disinterested observers. Is it any wonder that they are not trusted? Do you trust people who are hell-bent on selling you something to the point where they omit relevant information?

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Animal Ethics

JULY 19, 2007

On May 24, Governor Rod Blagojevich signed the bill into law. Less than 24 hours later, Cavel was back—this time in court seeking an injunction to prevent the new law from taking effect on the grounds that it interferes with international commerce. Illinoisans breathed a collective sigh of relief. Then, on July 5, 2007, U.S.

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Animal Ethics

MARCH 6, 2008

Isenhour is charged with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird. Weigh in: Should Isenhour receive the maximum penalty allowable by law? As for myself, I hope that Isenhour receives the maximum penalty allowed by law. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines. What say you?

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Animal Ethics

JULY 30, 2007

Should there be a law that mandates spaying and neutering of dogs and cats? See here for Verlyn Klinkenborg's column.

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Animal Ethics

MARCH 12, 2008

To the Editor: Re “ To Revive Hunting, States Turn to the Classroom ” (front page, March 8): Shame on West Virginia if it approves a bill that allows hunting education classes in public schools to become law. We should not use public schools to try to reverse the inexorable decline in the “sport” of hunting.

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Animal Ethics

OCTOBER 2, 2007

As you know, the Animal Legal Defense Fund is committed to protecting the lives of animals everywhere. But you may not know that we have filed a lawsuit against Mendes Calf Ranch for its violation of California animal cruelty laws. Information about the campaign can be found here.

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Animal Ethics

JULY 19, 2007

Michael Vick should be punished to the full extent of the law if he is convicted of the charges filed against him. They are our trusted friends and companions. To train them to fight one another, and then to kill the losers of these fights, is barbaric beyond words. I also hope that the National Football League banishes him.

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Animal Ethics

MAY 23, 2008

The bill also bans the importation of puppies from foreign puppy mills, and increases penalties for violations of the Animal Welfare Act from $2,500 to $10,000. These new penalties would give the law some much needed teeth. Enforcement has been inconsistent at best. We hope Congress will vote to override the president’s veto.

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Animal Ethics

AUGUST 4, 2008

If their own values commit them to changing the way they treat animals, why haven't they changed the way they treat animals? Their only tool is the law of noncontradiction, which says that no proposition can be both true and false. The answer is that not everyone has thought through the implications of his or her values.

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Animal Ethics

JULY 31, 2007

Also readers can find other information on the history of the sport, dog fighting laws, and links to other articles about dogs and pet care. “How Dog Fighting Works” is a look into the illegal sport of dog fighting and gives readers information on the issues and its effects. You can find the article here.

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Animal Ethics

JULY 25, 2007

To the Editor: “ For ‘Animal Precinct,’ Reality Subject to Dispute ” (news article, July 23) missed the entire point of comprehensive animal welfare: that effective animal welfare requires both response and prevention.

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New York Times New York Animal Welfare Animal Cruelty 40

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 31, 2007

When I was in law school, many years ago, I wrote a lengthy term paper entitled "The Legal Status of the Wolf ( Canis Lupus ) in Michigan, 1805-1982" for a graduate history course I was taking. Here is a New York Times editorial opinion about the wolf.

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Animal Ethics

JANUARY 6, 2007

For more on how the rhetoric of terror is being used to restrict the rights of animal advocates so as to protect the profits of animal abusers, see my earlier post here. That time is now.

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Animal Ethics

AUGUST 3, 2007

Lawmakers, animal control officers and animal welfare organizations need to work together and delve into the origins of shelter subgroups—such as stray, feral or surrendered pets—to address the issues that bring them to the shelter.

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