I received the following email late yesterday describing a new work regarding animal rights and animal welfare. Richard L. Cupp, Jr. is, I believe, spot on in his conclusion that ultimately assigning “rights” to animals in the same sense as humans is a disservice to animals. Take some time to read the full article.
–Jack Carson
The American Agricultural Law Association has announced the 2009 winner of its Professional Scholarship Award. Richard L. Cupp, Jr.’s article, Moving Beyond Animal Rights: A Legal/Contractualist Critique 46 San Diego Law Review 27 (2009), was chosen for the award. Cupp’s article critiques the analogy made by some animal rights theorists between granting rights to animals and granting rights to corporations and to mentally incapable humans. The article documents the rapid expansion of “Animal Law” in United States law schools, and argues that both humans and animals are better served by courts and legislatures focusing on human responsibility for humane treatment of animals than by distorting the concept of legal rights to include animals.