Animals and the Law A Sourcebook

VOYA

Animal law is a comparatively new area of the legal discipline. Traditionally, animals, whether wild or domestic, were considered only as objects for human use or possession. Because many argue that nonhumans have neither legal rights nor legal standing, most animal law is concerned with protecting the rights and safety of humans. This resource attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the historical and contemporary issues surrounding animal law. The sheer number of topics discussed in this substantial volume is impressive. Curnutt considers subjects as diverse as rodeos, kosher and halal slaughter, greyhound and thoroughbred racing, canned hunts, mad cow disease, and fur farms. To include so much information within a single source is a boon for libraries. The appendixes on animal organizations, legal cases, and statutes cited and the bibliography that includes Web sites enhance the usefulness of the book. Sadly, at times the amount of material threatens to overwhelm the reader and perhaps the writer as well. The author's attempts to organize his material sometimes fall short, losing the reader in a morass of repetition and see references. The reader's eyes are likely to glaze over from attempts to read the unfortunate spindly typeface on yellowish paper. More careful proofreading might have eliminated the dangling modifiers and the ubiquitous "alright." Given the paucity of material on the subject of animal law, however, this title could find a place in a public or a high school library. Perhaps a second edition will correct some of the flaws. Index. Biblio. Appendix. 2001, ABC-CLIO, 591p. PLB Hansen