Confronting Animal Cruelty: Understanding Evidence of Harm Towards Animals (original) (raw)
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Alberta Law Review, 2003
There has been a progressive change in western philosophical thought regarding animals. While animals were once regarded as objects, valuable solely in relation to their use to humans, there is now a substantial movement to recognize animals as inherently valuable and deserving of the same moral status as humans. Thus change in attitude is not reflected in amendments to the Criminal Code anti-cruelty provisions. Vie new provisions recognize that animals have the capacity to feel pain. However, the provisions do not protect animals independently of the benefits that animals provide to humans. Still categorized as property, animals do not share the moral status of humans. Further, under the new provisions, animals do not have legal rights. Therefore, despite changes in the law regarding animals, no animal liberation is taking place.
Social Sciences, 2022
This (open access) paper offers the first overview of the Canadian animal cruelty investigations landscape. First, the public and private sector organizations responsible for enforcement are explained, followed by examination of the implications of this patchwork for reporting suspected cruelty. Key statistical data are presented about the types of issues and cases and investigator responses. Initial recommendations are then proposed, and the value of the animal harm spectrum is discussed, including how it can be mobilized to strengthen the operations of animal protection work and animal welfare policy across nations.
2015
In the last decade, research evidence has increasingly demonstrated a co-occurrence of human interpersonal violence and abusive behaviour toward nonhuman animals although the actual nature of this intersection continues to remain controversial. While livestock and wildlife can also become victims, more often the abuse is directed at a family pet whose 'owners' view them as members of the family, forming strong emotional attachments with them and grieving their loss when they die. Whether we view animal abuse as a harbinger or a red flag, a discussion about the protection of other animals from abuse must include a critical examination of how to identify and assess situations in which they are vulnerable to neglect or violence. Intervention can be facilitated through cross-sector reporting between agencies whose professionals routinely encounter animal abuse that accompanies other forms of violence. Such a dialogue must also include a review of public policy and legislation that seeks to protect the most vulnerable members of our society, both human and nonhuman. Available online at: https://animaliajournal.com/2015/06/26/animal-abuse-and-human-interpersonal-violence-in-canada-an-anthrozoological-perspective-on-policy-legislation-and-the-need-for-cross-sector-reporting/
The Legal Status of Animals in Canada - Policy Brief and Draft Bill
This project contemplates achievement of substantive equality for animals through legislative reform and policy change. I have drafted a comprehensive bill that comes into force in two stages to recognize how far removed we are from the overarching legislative goal of treating animals as moral equals today. The first stage consists of a transitional period of progressive endeavors to foster the incremental attitudinal and institutional changes necessary for the second stage, which prohibits all forms of animal exploitation, requires humans to take animal interests into account, and imposes positive duties on humans with animals in their custody or care.
Animals
Simple Summary: In any federation of states, societal oversight of farm animal welfare (agriculture policy arena, prevention) is more difficult to achieve than providing punishment of individuals abusing of companion animals (post injury). The constitutional division of powers and historical policy related to animal agriculture and non-government organization policing cruelty of companion animals may be entrenched. With changing societal expectations of agriculture production, each level of government may hesitate to take the lead, due to financial or ideological beliefs and simultaneously, obstruct the other government level from taking the lead, based on constitutional grounds. The tradition of private policing of companion animal abuse offences may be unworkable in the provision of protection for animals used in industrial production. Abstract: In recent European animal welfare statutes, human actions injurious to animals are new "offences" articulated as an injury to societal norms in addition to property damage. A crime is foremost a violation of a community moral standard. Violating a societal norm puts society out of balance and justice is served when that balance is returned. Criminal law normally requires the presence of mens rea, or evil intent, a particular state of mind; however, dereliction of duties towards animals (or children) is usually described as being of varying levels of negligence but, rarely can be so egregious that it constitutes criminal societal injury. In instrumental justice, the "public goods" delivered by criminal law are commonly classified as retribution, incapacitation and general deterrence. Prevention is a small, if present, outcome of criminal justice. Quazi-criminal law intends to establish certain expected (moral) standards of human behavior where by statute, the obligations of one party to another are clearly articulated as strict liability. Although largely moral in nature, this class of laws focuses on achieving compliance, OPEN ACCESS Animals 2013, 3 1087 thereby resulting in prevention. For example, protecting the environment from degradation is a benefit to society; punishing non-compliance, as is the application of criminal law, will not prevent the injury. This paper will provide evidence that the integrated meat complex of Canada and the USA is not in a good position to make changes to implement a credible farm animal protection system.
Social Science Research Network, 2017
With the recent developments surrounding R v DLW and the legal interpretation of 'bestiality' before the Supreme Court of Canada, animal law organizations such as Animal Justice insist that Canadians must recognize their obligation to protect the most vulnerable beings in their care, and not subject them to abuse. We argue that there were many avenues of interpretation open to the Supreme Court in adjudicating and addressing the legal definition of bestiality. The majority of the Supreme Court ultimately adopted a conservative approach to statutory interpretation. A strict legal construction and focus on original intent of Parliament foreclosed development of the law towards legal recognition of animal sentience and the concomitant implications for animal rights in Canadian law. In this paper we consider various routes by which a more progressive interpretation of bestiality could have been constructed by the Supreme Court of Canada. When the Supreme Court of Canada concluded that bestiality could only be interpreted as a penetrative offence, it avoided the chance for incremental legal change that could have contributed to the ways Canadians, laypersons, and legal professionals recognized animal *
With the recent developments surrounding R v DLW and the legal interpretation of 'bestiality' before the Supreme Court of Canada, animal law organizations such as Animal Justice insist that Canadians must recognize their obligation to protect the most vulnerable beings in their care, and not subject them to abuse. We argue that there were many avenues of interpretation open to the Supreme Court in adjudicating and addressing the legal definition of bestiality. The majority of the Supreme Court ultimately adopted a conservative approach to statutory interpretation. A strict legal construction and focus on original intent of Parliament foreclosed development of the law towards legal recognition of animal sentience and the concomitant implications for animal rights in Canadian law. In this paper we consider various routes by which a more progressive interpretation of bestiality could have been constructed by the Supreme Court of Canada. When the Supreme Court of Canada concluded that bestiality could only be interpreted as a penetrative offence, it avoided the chance for incremental legal change that could have contributed to the ways Canadians, laypersons, and legal professionals recognized animal * James Gacek is currently a doctoral candidate at Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh. He has lectured in criminology and criminal justice at
Can Sentience Recognition Protect Animals? Lessons from Québec’s Animal Law Reform
27:1 Animal Law Review 57. , 2021
Academic literature needs to provide a better understanding of the legal recognition of animal sentience. This Article aims to help fill out this gap by diving into Que ́bec’s legal recognition of animal sentience in 2015. This Article draws three lessons from Que ́bec law’s recognition of animal sentience and biological needs. First, it argues that legal sentience recognition’s fate is to become more than symbolic and to receive normative force. Second, it contends that considering sentience protection as the sole instrument to prevent animal killing and exploitation is a mistake. This is so because respect for sentience is reduced to suffering prevention by judges. As such, sentience protection in Que ́bec simply hardens the requirements for painlessness in animal killing and exploitation but does not decrease the practice. Third, it suggests that the legal protection of “biological needs” might bring hope where sentience does not. This alternative concept tackles some of sentience’s blind spots. This Article is of interest to any lawyer, academic, and activist operating in a jurisdiction where the law explicitly declares that animals are sentient beings and to those in other jurisdictions that are considering recognizing animal sentience by statute.