The UN-iversalization of Animal Welfare Law

Advancing the protection of animal beings is becoming a universal mission in this early twenty-first century. A few years ago, animal welfare was knocking at the door of the United Nations (UN). Today, it is entering this door. Animal lawyers and protectionists are working to support the full inclusion of animal welfare concerns into the agenda of the UN and its organizations, and to create a new UN-iversal regime. The protection of animal beings, long a missing piece of the international law puzzle, seems likely soon to take its place as a UN objective, alongside protection of human beings and the environment. In this paper, the evolution of animal welfare law from the national level to the UN level is traced. The evidence that the subject is of growing interest and concern at the UN is briefly reviewed until showing that animal welfare is becoming a new UN objective. Overall, the case is made that animal welfare law is UN-iversalizing

The Illegal Parrot Pet Trade in Mexico

The illegal traffic of wildlife is one of the major enemies of biodiversity. Unfortunately, Mexico is an important part of the wildlife trafficking network, with the illicit market for the sale of wild animals being one of the most severe problems that face the country's wild animal species. This article explains the complexity of the illegal parrot pet trade in Mexico, where wildlife trade goes beyond buyers and sellers, it involves a whole network of people making illegal transactions that occur under the radar of law enforncement, making it as difficult to eradicate as other forms of organized crime.  &nbsp

Respect for animals - with what effects?

In this paper I interrogate the introduction of the concept of respect for animals, i.e the recognition of animals’ intrinsic value, in the new Swedish Animal Welfare Act (2018:1192). Drawing on poststructural theory and Nussbaum’s dignity approach, I use critical policy analysis to examine key government propositions and official government reports between 2011 and 2018. The previous Animal Welfare Act (1988:534) is used to assess possible conceptual change linked to the introduction of the new concept. Even though the concept of respect for animals does not have material legal impact for the animals, through my findings I draw attention to the political effects of the concept. I show that discourses around increased productivity in animal-based agriculture were aligned with discourses around global climate change mitigation and the fight against antimicrobial resistance. While competitiveness and productivity were considered state responsibilities, respect for animals, on the other hand, became seen as an individual moral responsibility for the population rather than as a responsibility for protection by the state. Thereby, respect for animals, as it is directed towards the population, reflects the old anti-cruelty laws rather than a modern animal welfare law enforced by the state. An effect related to the concept as applied in the Swedish Animal Welfare Act is the marginalisation of ethics and political agency of citizens. The potentially transformative question of what respect for animals ought to mean for our political relationship with animals remains unaddressed

Bobler og Perler. En barok allegori af Karel Du Jardin fra 1663

Title: Bubbles and Pearls. A Baroque Allegory by Karel Du Jardin, 1663An analysis of the oil painting Boy Blowing Soap Bubbles. Allegory on the Transitoriness and the Brevity of Life (in the National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen), signed and dated 1663 by the Dutch painter Karel Du Jardin (1626–1678), shows how two iconographical types, that of Fortune/Nemesis and that of a boy blowing soap bubbles are combined to form a new invention. The essay explores how Du Jardin’s painting expands and nuances the allegorical meaning of Vanitas by this combination of well-known visual sources. The meaning of the painting circles around one of the baroque era’s great tropes, to remember and search for Fides and not to let worldly riches forget her. This article also explores how a baroque Christian neostoic worldview might form part of the ideas and philosophy that underlie Du Jardin’s invention

The Convention on Animal Protection: The Missing Link in a One Health Global Strategy for Pandemic Prevention

As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates, society’s failure to address animal well-being has had grave consequences not just for animals but also for humans. The emergence of zoonotic diseases is largely a result of high-risk contact with and mistreatment of animals, and it obligates states to assess the risks and mitigate, if not prevent, the underlying harms to animals that ensue. In keeping with the One Health approach, the proposed Convention on Animal Protection for Public Health, Animal Welfare, and the Environment (CAP) lays the groundwork for a comprehensive global strategy to address the missing link in other approaches to the pandemic—specifically by recognizing explicitly that the protection of animal well-being is good for animals, for people, and for the planet. This Article sets CAP in its historical context, capturing how previous international agreements have been reached to preserve the exploitation of animals as living resources but have not ventured much further than that. The Article looks at how high-risk contact with and mistreatment of animals led to the emergence of COVID-19 and highlights how existing legal frameworks are ill-equipped to prevent similar pandemics. The Article then turns to a discussion of CAP—its origins with the adoption of an American Bar Association (ABA) policy urging the negotiation of a treaty to prevent pandemics by advancing animal protection and welfare, as well as its structure and provisions as framed by its first draft—and distinguishes CAP from other treaty proposals. In conclusion, the Article underscores the opportunity CAP presents not just to help prevent future pandemics but also to advance animals’ intrinsic interests, which are inextricably interwoven with our own

The Seal of Dignity of Archbishop Olav of Nidaros (1350–1370). Reflections on its Iconography and Cultural Context

Medieval seals provide interesting historical and art historical source material as they reflect a number of elements in medieval society, of which iconography is one. The imagery in the seal of dignity of Olav I, Archbishop of Nidaros (1350–1370), is an artwork of high quality. This article provides a detailed examination of the cultural context of the seal by bringing together earlier knowledge and some new insights. It discusses stylistic relations to comparable seals from different areas outside the Nidaros archdiocese. These are the seals of the Cardinal of San Clemente, the Bishop of Durham and Queen Blanche of Norway and Sweden. The great seal of Olav was innovative at the time in Norway. It was hagiographic with a suppliant bishop’s figure. It contained rich micro-architectural elements, and heraldry now formed part of the imagery of the seal. The stylistic connections presented in the article are a reminder of the significance of the long-distance travels of the medieval clergy and the resulting network of cultural interactions (including correspondence), especially during this period of increasing papal influence

Navigating the International Legal Terrain for Animal Health and Protection: Specialist Agency or Framework Convention?

This article identifies and analyses key themes in the history of efforts to make international law an effective instrument for protecting animals and their health, as well as touching upon the positive spillovers this can have for human and environmental health. The pursuit of fragmented and inconsistent approaches has made animal protection a secondary consideration, at best, in international relations. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international non-government organisations (INGOs) have valiantly and persistently argued that there is a  legal ‘gap’ in the protection of animals at an international level, but they have never had a strong  institutional basis from which they could  engage collectively and effectively with state parties. We argue that the adoption of a binding international instrument focused on animal protection would fill this gap and we evaluate one particular recent proposal:  the draft United Nations Convention for Animal Health and Protection, sponsored by Global Animal Law