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The University of Chicago Law School recently launched an innovative project that aims to create practical and effective solutions to the complex animal rights questions facing our world today. The project, spearheaded by Professor Laura Prieto, is the first of its kind in the United States and will bring together scholars, lawyers, and animal rights advocates in an effort to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
The project will focus on several important animal rights issues, including humane animal treatment in the farming industry, humane animal treatment in scientific research and testing, the recognition of animal rights in legal proceedings, and the role of technology in advancing animal rights.
The project will rely heavily on interdisciplinary research and collaboration. Prieto is currently putting together an advisory board composed of individuals from a wide range of legal and academic backgrounds, including animal welfare academics, animal rights activists, and law scholars. Additionally, the project will be hosting several roundtable events throughout the year with experts in the field of animal rights.
The project is also creating innovative legal tools to help attorneys and animal rights advocates better protect animals. Included among these tools is a database that enables researchers to access legal documents pertinent to animal welfare and the legal status of animals.
The University of Chicago Law School believes that this project is an essential step to advancing animal welfare in our society. By creating practical legal solutions to animal rights issues, the project looks to alleviate animal suffering and create a more humane future for all.
The University of Chicago Law School animal rights project is an important initiative that seeks to develop practical and effective solutions to the complicated animal rights issues facing society. Spearheaded by Professor Laura Prieto, the project is bringing together an advisory board of legal and academic experts to research the issues and develop innovative legal tools for animal rights advocates. The project aims to create a more humane future for animals and reduce animal suffering through legal reforms.
University of Chicago Law School Project Takes on Animal Rights Questions
In the fall of 2014, the University of Chicago Law School launched the Animal Law and Policy Project in an effort to create practical solutions to the legal issues surrounding animal rights and welfare. The project focuses on providing research, educational, and legal resources to organizations that are working towards advancing the field of animal protection.Challenges in Animal Law Represented by Project
The Animal Law and Policy Project aims to tackle a wide array of challenges in animal law, including animal cruelty and exploitation, pet ownership regulations, wildlife conservation, and animal welfare regulations. Each of these areas presents an opportunity for the project to pioneer research, educational programs, and other legal initiatives that can benefit the advancement of animal rights.University of Chicago Faculty Lead Project
Leading the efforts of the project at the University of Chicago is Professor and Director Professor Jonathan A. Rosen. Rosen has been a professor at the school since 2007 and has extensive experience teaching and researching animal law and policy. His involvement with the project provides a unique opportunity for students and faculty in the law school to gain an understanding of the legal issues surrounding animal rights.Promoting Public Awareness and Activism
In addition to providing a legal education, the Animal Law and Policy Project also focuses on promoting public awareness and activism related to animal rights. This can be done through public outreach and engagement, educational initiatives, and by creating networks with other advocacy organizations. Through these efforts, the project seeks to create a more informed public that can effectively campaign for better animal protections.The Chicago Project on Animal Treatment Principles began in the 2003-2004 academic year when two events fortuitously converged: a donor suggested funding an animal rights research project at the law school, and two law faculty members—Cass Sunstein and Martha Nussbaum—co-edited a book in the field (Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions, 2004, Oxford University Press).
To find an arena of animal rights that could be changed by legal scholars and students, organizers focused the project on food labeling as a way to impact the way livestock animals are treated. "We believe that consumers want to make ethical choices, but have insufficient information," says Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, via an email interview.
And, with the University of Chicago's history of economic theory, it seems fitting that the law school project approaches the issue from a market—as opposed to a mandatory government regulatory—perspective. Looking at utilitarian concepts relating to animal rights, too, makes Chicago Law "the natural place" for this project, says Sunstein.
To determine how and whether a labeling system informing consumers would impact the treatment of animals, the faculty and students researched the different facets of this issue last summer. The project participants then presented findings and proposals at an October 2004 University of Chicago conference on the topic, which included scholars from outside the legal field as well. The conference served to hone the project's work and its approach towards food labeling, says Jeff Leslie, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law. Leslie, with a background in medical ethics and public policy, helps to organize the project.
The project's research looked at, among other things, the history of past labeling initiatives, such as nutritional labeling and organic labeling. Researchers also investigated other voluntary participation and certification programs and how voluntary programs could be effectively enforced.
The research has shown, thus far, that labels following this model ("Chicago format labels") should have small categories, give clear information, and address the most important animal-treatment factors for that animal.
The project will both continue its work on labeling food to inform consumers and also expand its scope to address other issues impacting animal rights. While the newest arm of the project has yet to be solidified, the issue of medical testing on animals is a top contender, say both Leslie and Nussbaum.
The next step for the labeling initiative is setting up a pilot project to test the practical impact of the Chicago format labels. Looking at actual consumer response to the new information is the primary goal. The pilot project, which is currently being negotiated with a possible participating company, would involve a grocery store chain requesting that its suppliers use labels on animal products identifying how that animal was treated, says Leslie.
The exact form of the pilot is still being negotiated, says Leslie. One major issue to determine: what exactly goes on the label? Chicago scholars would work with the producers and the store to determine the exact content of the labels and make sure the information takes context into account.
For example, trimming chickens' beaks seems inhumane. But if the chickens are in close quarters, then beak trimming prevents them from hurting each other. So an end to beak trimming would also need to include a reduction in crowding. Or, any beak trimming would need to be for the animals' safety. Any information on the labels must be in context and thus will require some work to clarify all the nuances in succinct, understandable ways.
The animal treatment principles project has both scholarly and practical policy components for students. On the scholarly side, Nussbaum, whose faculty appointment is in philosophy and divinity, as well as law, explains how law and philosophy intersect in terms of animal ethics: "Animal ethics needs to be approached with good general conceptual tools, so there is a need for the study of ethical theories such as Kantianism and Utilitarianism or my own 'capabilities approach.' The problems don't get formulated in the right way without good conceptual tools, and for [the last] 200 years, philosophers have been working on the problem of animal ethics, so there is a lot that the law can learn from that."
On the practical side, the animal principles project shows law students a "whole other side of lawyering" than much of legal education, says Leslie. The project gives students experience in not just studying existing law, but also in looking how to reach a desired outcome through the formation of new legal solutions, either legislative or otherwise.
This type of project would be useful for students going into legal work on any civil rights issues, or public service law, says Leslie. Similar to other law school clinical programs, the animal treatment project focuses on a specific problem and trains students how to address that issue with legal tools. At its core, the project is a "case study in legal or regulatory policy," says Sunstein.
