Talking Animal Law

Ankita Shanker, founder of WMILAR kindly talks to us about her vision for the World's 1st Global Moot Competition & Moot Training Courses on Animal Rights Law. As the website explains, 'The WMILAR combines traditional aspects of International Law (including but not limited to International Human Rights Law and International Environmental Law) with contemporary issues of animal rights. It does so through a mooting competition aimed at law students, and a 2-pronged training course aimed at law students and law teachers.'  

What is on the agenda for animal law and policy in Scotland? Guest host, Alison Burns talks to Kirsty Jenkins, Policy Officer at OneKind about their campaign to 'Stand up for pigs' centred around the use of farrowing crates, the National Good Food Nation Plan for Scotland and it's potential to drive up animal welfare standards and much more. 

In this episode, we speak to Stefan Blakiston Moore and Madison Rogers from the national charity, Cats Protection about their work advocating for cats in law and policy, alongside their education and welfare programmes. Drawing upon the 'Cats and Their Stats 2023' report, published by the charity, we learn about the current welfare landscape for cats and the needs and challenges faced by their keepers. We cover the rise of selective breeding and unethical importation of cats into the UK, the trend in pedigree cat ownership, new mandatory microchipping of cats, coming into force in June 2024, the renters market and much more.

In this episode we speak to Claire Bass, Senior Director of Campaigns and Public Affairs at Humane Society International-UK, who has been working in the animal protection movement for two decades, with recent significant involvement in the successful passage of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act. Claire outlines her New Year's wishlist for animals in 2024, from ending the cage age for farmed animals to wildlife crime and more. 

In this episode we welcome guests, Dr Roshni Ladny and Erin Leach to explore research about the potential impact upon children of witnessing violence towards animals. We discuss this research with our guests in the context of General Comment 26 published by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child's (CRC), which implicitly recognises (as part of a broader statement about the impact upon children of the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity and exposure to pollution) the negative impact that witnessing violence inflicted on animals can have on children and conversely the positive benefits for children of interacting with animals as part of the natural world. 

This extended episode is co-hosted with Tamara Bedic, President of the National Lawyers Guild NYC (2022) and Chair of the NLGNYC Animal Rights Committee, and features three prominent guests talking about veganism and how it engages fundamental human rights across the UK, Germany and Italy. We hear from Dr. Jeanette Rowley and Dr. Carlo Prisco, co-editors of Law and Vegansism: International Perspectives on the Human Right to Freedom of Conscience (2022) and Ralf Muller-Amenitsch.  Dr. Jeanette Rowley holds a PhD in veganism and human rights and has published widely and presenting globally on the subject of legal protection for vegans. Dr. Carlo Prisco is a lawyer and PhD in Philosophy of Law and Ralf Müller-Amenitsch is a German lawyer specialising in labour, social and family law. 

In this episode we discuss the capture and slaughter of fish in commercial fisheries with John Garratt,  co-author of a paper with Dr Steven McCulloch 'Wild Fish Welfare in UK Commercial Sea Fisheries: Qualitative Analysis of Stakeholder Views'. This is a deep dive into fish welfare during the capture and killing processes, exploring opportunities for law reform and how measures to protect fish welfare can support other objectives. 

In this episode, we discuss the legal protection of farmed fish with Amro Hussain, Senior Public Affairs Lead at The Humane League. In particular, we focus on the protection of welfare at the time of killing and ask why current legal protections are not sufficient.  

Dr Christina Nellist, B.Ed; Ph.D; FOCAE. Eastern Orthodox Theologian, Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and Editor of Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals, talks about animals and theology. This episode explores how Christian theology has influenced the development of law in the Western hemisphere and how it can help us navigate some of the current dilemas about society's treatment of animals.   

This episode is co-hosted with Tamara Bedic, Chair of the Animal Rights Committee of the New York Guild of Lawyers (New York City division). We are talking about trophy hunting with our guests, Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting in the UK and Professor David Bilchitz,  Professor of Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Johannesburg and Professor of Law at the University of Reading. 

In this episode, we talk to Dr Steven McCulloch, veterinary surgeon and expert in animal welfare about the use of farrowing crates. Dr McCulloch is the author of a recent report called Banning Farrowing Crates in the UK: Transitioning to Free Farrowing to Meet the Welfare Needs of Pigs. We discuss the use of farrowing crates and the call for a ban on animal welfare grounds.       

Historian Dr Hilda Kean, former Dean of Ruskin College, Oxford, takes us back to nineteenth century Britain, as she discusses the landscape for animals around the enactment of Martin's Act 1822 (named after its sponsor, Richard Martin MP), the first national legislation intended specifically to make animal cruelty an offence. This episode contains references to animal cruelty, including cat skinning, that some people may find distressing. 

In this week's episode we talk to Duncan McNair, CEO of Save the Asian Elephants (‘STAE') about elephants, and the impact that unethical elephant tourist attractions have on the welfare of the individual elephant and on the elephant population. Duncan discusses proposals for law reform that would see a ban on the marketing of certain tourist attractions in Asia involving elephants. 

Dr Joe Wills talks about a case brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) on behalf of an elephant named Happy. The NhRP is seeking a writ of habeas corpus to secure Happy's freedom, so that she can be transferred to an elephant sanctuary.  The case has recently been heard by New York's highest court and raises fundamental issues about legal personhood. 

Dr Angus Nurse is the author of a Government commissioned report: 'Investigation of measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible ownership amongst dog owners with dog control issues in the UK.' 2021. Dr Nurse discusses the report and its implications for dog control policy, law and enforcement. 

David Thomas, lawyer at Advocates for Animals and Kerry Postlewhite of Cruelty Free International, discuss the use of animals for cosmetics testing. We learn about the legal landscape and current challenges. 

David Blatte, author of 'The Vegan Imperative, Why We Must Give Up Meat and Why We Don't' talks about the book, compassion and his career as an animal law attorney.  

We hear from lawyers and the petitioner involved in a public law challenge in 2021 against the Scottish Government's beaver killing policy. Learn about the legal issues involved and the implications of the decision for Scotland's beaver population and beyond. 

We speak to David Bowles, RSPCA Head of Public Affairs, about some of the causes supported by the late Sir David Amess who was MP for Southend West and a consistent champion of animal welfare throughout his long career. Sir David Amess MP was tragically killed earlier this year, although his legacy lives on.   Join us in remembering a great advocate in Parliament against animal suffering who worked for decades alongside the RSPCA and other animal advocacy groups to enshrine animal welfare standards in law.

An independent review of sentience commissioned by the UK Government and conducted by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has concluded there is 'strong scientific evidence decapod crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, prawns, & crayfish) and cephalopod molluscs ( such as such as octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) are sentient.' We discuss the report and it's findings with Claire Howard, Director of Crustacean Compassion, an award-winning animal welfare organisation dedicated to the humane treatment of decapod crustaceans. 

Rob Espin, solicitor and co-chair of A-Law's Wildlife Law Working Group, discusses problems around the use of rodent glue traps and outlines proposed new laws designed to restrict their use. 

We discuss the puppy trade and dog theft in Ireland with Dr. Stephanie O' Flynn, a Lecturer in Law in the Department of Law and Criminal Justice at Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland. Stephanie has a particular interest in the legal treatment of dogs, and in this episode she talks about some of the challenges posed by low welfare breeding, dog theft and the pandemic. 

With a consultation into the Commercial and Non-Commercial Movement of Pets into Great Britain due to close on 16 Oct 2021, we ask three campaigners (Marc Abraham, Sarah Dixon and Jordan Shelley) at the forefront of the fight against 'puppy farms' and ear cropping, respectively, for their views on import restrictions for dogs with cropped ears or docked tails or under 6 months of age. We ask specifically, should the government exempt animal rescue and re-homing organisations from these restrictions? 

In this episode, we discuss the case for a specific crime of pet abduction. Should the criminal justice system treat the theft of companion animals in the same way as the theft of inanimate property or does the law need reform? We talk to John Cooper QC, who has been advising the pet theft campaign. 

Warning: some listeners may find content distressing Dr Joe Wills from Leicester Law School, discusses the decision in Centraal Israëlitisch Consistorie van België and Others. In this case, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Member States could require pre-stunning of animals before slaughter, without infringing fundamental human rights. There has to be a balance between promoting animal welfare and respecting the rights of those in religious communities to practice their beliefs. 

Warning: adult themes, not suitable for children 'Where animals are abused, people are at risk and where people are abused, animals are at risk.' That is the central message of this episode, in which we consider what can be learnt about domestic abuse and coercive control when we take the time to consider the animal within the home. What does this tell us and how can we protect vulnerable family members? 

In this special edition, Peter Egan, actor, animal advocate and ambassador for the charity Nowzad, talks about the organisation behind the headlines, including the brave team who at the time of broadcast are facing danger from Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Our thoughts are also with other animal rescues in the region, including Kabul Small Animal Rescue and with all people at heightened risk in this region.  The title is taken from Nowzad's leader, Pen Farthing who in one of his early tweets, asked people to pray for a miracle. To donate go to https://www.nowzad.com/donate

Our legal experts discuss two legal cases that made the headlines in 2020.  Friends of Antique Cultural Treasures Ltd v DEFRA [2020] EWCA Civ 649, concerning a challenge to the legality of the Ivory Act 2018, and R (National Farmers Union & Anor) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2020] EWHC 1192 (Admin) challenging a decision not to grant licences to kill badgers in furtherance of its policy for control of bovine TB.  Barristers, Frances Allen and Alan Bates explain what judicial review is, how it was used in each of these respective cases and what lesson can be learnt from these legal challenges. 

In this first episode, I am talking animal law with Peter Stevenson,  Chief Policy Advisor at Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). Peter is a qualified lawyer who has worked for nearly three decades in animal welfare. During this time, he played a leading role in winning the EU bans on veal crates, battery cages and sow stalls as well as a new status for animals in EU law as sentient beings. In October 2020, Peter was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, in recognition of his tremendous contributions in the field of animal welfare. I talk to Peter talks about his career, the highs and lows, successes and obstacles and what he sees as the challenges ahead.

This episode introduces you to our brand new podcast, Talking Animal Law. In this episode we tell the reader who we are and why we are launching this legal podcast focusing exclusively on animals.