33. Animal Welfare

Traditionally, animals have been treated as property, not as beings or persons capable of ownership of property or of possessing the right to be free of abuse or harm. Of course, in the past, domestic animals were primarily used for food or transportation, and, hence were a valuable economic tool. Farm and working animals were the only animals that were protected in some measure against abuse, but only insofar as treatment affected the economic value of the animal. Since house pets did not even have the economic value, the law did not specifically recognize them as warranting particular consideration. In this context, the law primarily protected the owners of domesticated farm animals and beasts of burden from economic loss as a result of injury or theft of the animals.

In modern times, domesticated animals have achieved enhanced roles in the lives of their owners. House pets have become family members, and some owners, faced with the possibility that their beloved pets may outlive them, and face one-way tickets to the pound, have tried to make provisions for their pets in their wills. So-called “pet trusts” have evolved over the last century and are becoming recognized by more and more states. In addition, the law has also come to recognize a basic “right” of animals to be free from harm.

Animal law is a rapidly growing area of the law. Law schools are teaching courses in animal law and states are strengthening penalties for crimes against animals. Several states are placing a greater emphasis on the protection of companion animals. As such, this chapter is devoted largely to the discussion of companion animals; specifically, it will discuss honorary or “pet” trusts, animal abuse, and animal fighting.

Despite the traditional status of animals as property, a majority of the states now allow people to leave money for the care of animals through an honorary or “pet” trust. Perhaps being led by the Uniform Trust Code’s provision for pet trusts, many states have passed laws permitting this type of trust.

Also covered in this chapter is a section on animal abuse. States tend to vary on the animals that they protect. As such, when the statute provides a definition for the word “animal,” that definition is provided in this section. Although most states define animal abuse or cruelty to animals in a similar fashion, they are still fairly divided on the appropriate penalties for persons committing crimes against animals.

In some states, these offenses are misdemeanors and in others they are felonies. Some states are increasing penalties for crimes against dogs and/or cats or for people committing torture against an animal. Most states require misdemeanor offenses to be enhanced into felonies when an individual is a repeat offender. Several also provide for restitution to the owner, anger management classes, and/or mental health evaluations as a condition of probation or a part of punishment. Since these enhancements and provisions are not particularly unique to animal issues, they are not discussed in this chapter. Abandonment and neglect (failure to provide adequate food, shelter, water, etc.) are included in this section, but crimes such as bestiality are not. As the punishment, not the description of the offense, is what tends to vary the most between the states, descriptions will only be provided when they are unique, they are necessary to distinguish two or more statutes by the same state, or when different actions provide different punishments.

Finally, this chapter will discuss animal fighting. Most states prohibit animal fighting in some form. Some only prohibit cockfighting and/or dogfighting. In states with a specific statute against dogfighting, the punishment is typically higher than punishments for other type of animal fighting. Although these statutes typically provide a very long list of prohibited activities (such as owning or training an animal for the purpose of an exhibition of fighting, allowing property to be used for a fight, judging or accepting admission fees for a fight, etc.), the description of each offense will be summarized in the same fashion as in the section on cruelty to animals above.

As this chapter will focus on companion animals, crimes involving wildlife or farm animals, such as bear wrestling, bull fighting, greased pig contests, horse tail docking and dyed chicks are not covered (with the exception of cockfighting). Also not discussed are traditional exceptions to the statutes, such as for veterinarians, scientific experimentation, hunting, and other historically permitted purposes. Statutes defining proper ways to transport animals, unless unique or defined within a cruelty statute, are also not included in this section. Additional protections provided to service animals for the disabled or for police/fire assistance are also excluded.

^* This chapter was compiled by Stefanie Pearlman, Assistant Professor of Law Library, Schmid Law Library, University of Nebraska, College of Law.