Research Handbook on Animal Law and Animal Rights
Published on 26. September 2025
Book
Hardback
588 pages
978-1-0353-2487-3 (ISBN)
Description
This Research Handbook examines contemporary animal law and its relationship to the philosophical and legal idea of animal rights. Adopting an inter- and multidisciplinary approach, it explores the role of legal theory, legal practice, strategic litigation and advocacy in the global development of laws protecting animals.
Tomasz Pietrzykowski and Birgitta Wahlberg bring together expert contributing authors to discuss interspecies constitutionalizing and the evolution of animal law scholarship. They shed light on jurisprudence and questions of legal status, highlighting key scientific, ethical, economic, religious, and cultural contexts. The Research Handbook covers the relationship between animal rights and human rights, addressing key case studies including animal dignity laws in Switzerland and the legal repercussions for offences against animals in Finland. Ultimately, it illustrates the importance of ongoing professional and scholarly engagement in animal protection.
The Research Handbook on Animal Law and Animal Rights is an essential resource for scholars and students of animal law, environmental law, and legal philosophy, as well as for practitioners of law. Its practical dimensions and forward-thinking insights will greatly benefit legal practitioners and officials interested in animal status and protection.
Tomasz Pietrzykowski and Birgitta Wahlberg bring together expert contributing authors to discuss interspecies constitutionalizing and the evolution of animal law scholarship. They shed light on jurisprudence and questions of legal status, highlighting key scientific, ethical, economic, religious, and cultural contexts. The Research Handbook covers the relationship between animal rights and human rights, addressing key case studies including animal dignity laws in Switzerland and the legal repercussions for offences against animals in Finland. Ultimately, it illustrates the importance of ongoing professional and scholarly engagement in animal protection.
The Research Handbook on Animal Law and Animal Rights is an essential resource for scholars and students of animal law, environmental law, and legal philosophy, as well as for practitioners of law. Its practical dimensions and forward-thinking insights will greatly benefit legal practitioners and officials interested in animal status and protection.
Reviews / Votes
'The concept of animal rights or, if you prefer, animal welfare, goes to the heart of our approach not only to animals but to society more generally. This comprehensive and rich Research Handbook will be a must for anyone who cares about our own future.' -- Allan Rosas, College of Europe, Belgium and Catolica University, Portugal 'This book is a must read for anyone interested in the emerging discipline of animal law. Professors Pietrzykowski and Wahlberg have gathered a fresh and thoughtful set of perspectives on the development of animal law, as well as animal rights law, as fields of scholarly endeavor. Bravo!' -- Joyce Tischler, Lewis & Clark Law School, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-2487-3 (9781035324873)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Tomasz Pietrzykowski, Professor of Law, Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland and Birgitta Wahlberg, Lecturer in Public Law, Abo Akademi University, Finland
Content
Contents
Introduction: animal law between jurisprudential discipline, moral imperative,
and advocacy xii
Tomasz Pietrzykowski and Birgitta Wahlberg
PART I ANIMAL LAW AS A JURISPRUDENTIAL DISCIPLINE
1 Animal law unveiled: defining a new era of legal advocacy 2
Birgitta Wahlberg and Pamela D. Frasch
2 From constitutional animal law toward interspecies constitutionalizing 15
Charlotte E. Blattner
3 Towards animal flourishing through international law 36
Anne Peters
4 The evolution of animal law scholarship's theoretical foundations through
critical animal law studies 60
Iyan Offor
5 Animal rights and human rights - an impossible equation? 91
Elina Pirjatanniemi
PART II THE QUEST FOR ANIMAL STATUS
6 Sentience, agency, and animal status 116
Andrzej Elzanowski
7 Bridging the gap between jurisprudence and questions of legal status 142
Joshua Jowitt
8 Legal dereification of animals 160
Tomasz Pietrzykowski and Malgorzata Lubelska-Sazanow
9 Legal personhood and animals 177
Visa Kurki
10 The concept of animal dignity in Swiss animal welfare law 187
Gieri Bolliger
11 Animal rights and the rights of nature: between law and politics 203
Cezary Blaszczyk
PART III DOMAINS AND PRACTICES OF ANIMAL LAW
12 Administrative control mechanisms and preventive animal protection 223
Birgitta Wahlberg
13 Animals in scientific research: an analysis from the perspective of Swiss
law 236
Vanessa Gerritsen
14 Animals and food production from a US perspective 258
Jessica Chapman
15 Offences against animals in Finland 282
Tarja Koskela
16 The institution of the animal protection ombudsperson 306
Simone Graeber and Ines Schnur
17 Landmark cases in animal law 323
Eva Bernet Kempers and Ankita Shanker
PART IV TRANSDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON ANIMAL LAW
18 Basics of animal behavior and welfare assessment 353
Laura Haenninen and Anna Valros
19 Animals and religious traditions 367
Olav Hammer and Karen Swartz-Hammer
20 Animal rights and indigenous traditions in the century of anthropocentrism 387
Mari-Ann Susi
21 Economics and animals 405
Jim Leitzel and Sabina Shaikh
22 Using Environmental, Social, and Governance corporate non-financial
disclosure regulations to improve animal welfare 423
Jamie McLaughlin
23 New welfarism in animal law 444
Veera Koponen
PART V ANIMAL LAW IN PROGRESS: ADVOCACY, STRATEGIC
LITIGATION, AND THE WAYS TO THE FUTURE
24 Strategic litigation and animal law development 457
Vegard Bo Bahus
25 Improving animal law by means of strategic litigation: the case of the UK 466
Edie Bowles
26 Animal advocacy in the European Union 478
Camilla Bjoerkbom
27 Policy advocacy as a tool towards the legal protection of all animals 500
Erica Sullivan
28 Animals and international law: a rhetorical perspective 509
Tero Kivinen
29 Envisioning an inter-species justice 528
Eric L. Sugarman
Introduction: animal law between jurisprudential discipline, moral imperative,
and advocacy xii
Tomasz Pietrzykowski and Birgitta Wahlberg
PART I ANIMAL LAW AS A JURISPRUDENTIAL DISCIPLINE
1 Animal law unveiled: defining a new era of legal advocacy 2
Birgitta Wahlberg and Pamela D. Frasch
2 From constitutional animal law toward interspecies constitutionalizing 15
Charlotte E. Blattner
3 Towards animal flourishing through international law 36
Anne Peters
4 The evolution of animal law scholarship's theoretical foundations through
critical animal law studies 60
Iyan Offor
5 Animal rights and human rights - an impossible equation? 91
Elina Pirjatanniemi
PART II THE QUEST FOR ANIMAL STATUS
6 Sentience, agency, and animal status 116
Andrzej Elzanowski
7 Bridging the gap between jurisprudence and questions of legal status 142
Joshua Jowitt
8 Legal dereification of animals 160
Tomasz Pietrzykowski and Malgorzata Lubelska-Sazanow
9 Legal personhood and animals 177
Visa Kurki
10 The concept of animal dignity in Swiss animal welfare law 187
Gieri Bolliger
11 Animal rights and the rights of nature: between law and politics 203
Cezary Blaszczyk
PART III DOMAINS AND PRACTICES OF ANIMAL LAW
12 Administrative control mechanisms and preventive animal protection 223
Birgitta Wahlberg
13 Animals in scientific research: an analysis from the perspective of Swiss
law 236
Vanessa Gerritsen
14 Animals and food production from a US perspective 258
Jessica Chapman
15 Offences against animals in Finland 282
Tarja Koskela
16 The institution of the animal protection ombudsperson 306
Simone Graeber and Ines Schnur
17 Landmark cases in animal law 323
Eva Bernet Kempers and Ankita Shanker
PART IV TRANSDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON ANIMAL LAW
18 Basics of animal behavior and welfare assessment 353
Laura Haenninen and Anna Valros
19 Animals and religious traditions 367
Olav Hammer and Karen Swartz-Hammer
20 Animal rights and indigenous traditions in the century of anthropocentrism 387
Mari-Ann Susi
21 Economics and animals 405
Jim Leitzel and Sabina Shaikh
22 Using Environmental, Social, and Governance corporate non-financial
disclosure regulations to improve animal welfare 423
Jamie McLaughlin
23 New welfarism in animal law 444
Veera Koponen
PART V ANIMAL LAW IN PROGRESS: ADVOCACY, STRATEGIC
LITIGATION, AND THE WAYS TO THE FUTURE
24 Strategic litigation and animal law development 457
Vegard Bo Bahus
25 Improving animal law by means of strategic litigation: the case of the UK 466
Edie Bowles
26 Animal advocacy in the European Union 478
Camilla Bjoerkbom
27 Policy advocacy as a tool towards the legal protection of all animals 500
Erica Sullivan
28 Animals and international law: a rhetorical perspective 509
Tero Kivinen
29 Envisioning an inter-species justice 528
Eric L. Sugarman