Professor Randall Abate
Recently, Randall Abate, J.D., first holder of the Rechnitz chair in marine and environmental law and policy and professor in the department of political science and sociology at Monmouth University, visited campus to discuss his new book What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law? The event was made possible by a grant from the Independent College Fund of New Jersey for its green campus project “Focus on Sustainability” Program. Saint Peter’s University was awarded $5,000 for “Green is the New Blue: Creating a Sustainable Peacock Campus,” a program which sponsors lectures and a student competition for proposals to create an even more sustainable campus.
Abate’s recently published book discusses why environmental law is more established than animal law. Environmental laws are only 50 years old and came into effect in the early 1970s with the clean water act, which regulated pollution and recognized the need to plan for a more sustainable future. What brought attention to the environment and influenced the decision to impose regulations was that pollution was affecting human health with issues such as smog and polluted water. The environmental issues were also linked to basic human rights such as the access to water and having shelter, since people were being displaced by flooding and hazardous waste.
“There is a linkage between the way we are treating the environment and how it is affecting our health,” said Abate.
Animal laws have been harder to establish than environmental laws for several reasons. Environmental issues are transboundary and cross over many areas, so they can be federally mandated; animal laws are more region-specific. In addition, humans have a hard time recognizing animal sentient; meaning that it is hard to prove that animals are intelligent or have self-awareness.
“We can’t protect animals as readily; the environmental movement was easier because human health and well-being depended on it,” said Abate.
The first big success with animal law in the United States was the Animal Welfare Act. Now, the entire country has animal anti-cruelty laws, which to this day is still the only federal law in the United States that regulates treatment of animals in research and exhibition. However, there are many types of animals that are excluded from this law including lab mice and rats, birds and livestock.
“The animal rights movement is making gains even though people think it is wacky to grant animals rights,” said Abate.
Recent documentaries about animal rights including Unlocking the Cage, Blackfish and Cowspiracy have increased awareness about cruelty toward animals and how actions such as eating meat affect the environment. The main goal of animal law is to protect the voiceless. It raises the question of who or what should be protected by law. In some cases natural resources, future generations and even robots are protected by law, but not animals.
“Allowing animals to have personhood limits our ability to exploit them,” said Abate.
Abate argues that most animals we eat, especially pigs who have a high level of intelligence, deserve to be protected. He suggests everyone can help in a small way, for example, not eating meat one day a week on “Meatless Monday.” Abate continues to protect the voiceless and establish a more secure foothold in law that will uphold animal rights.
