Journal article
Cattle v the Crown: is there a place for the Commonwealth as animal welfare guardian?
The University of Queensland law journal, Vol.34(2), pp.363-391
2015
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Abstract
We rely on animals for the provision of foodstuffs, material goods, domestic and commercial labour, and medical and cosmetic experimentation. Yet despite the many obvious ways that animals interact with the human sphere there is little to no regulation of animal welfare or their interests at the Commonwealth level. As our population grows so too does the economic and social value of animals – in the words of Andrew Thelander back in 1991 ‘animals have already contributed more to [Australia] than all the breweries and football teams put together’. This paper will seek to examine whether there is a need for a Commonwealth guardianship framework for animal welfare. It will examine the current tensions in the
existing framework between international, national and State laws, as well as conduct a comparative analysis of the cases for and against federalist intervention. It will then be
proposed that the current situation requires Commonwealth intervention to establish a guardianship model of animal welfare law based on internationally and socially recognised principles, with a concomitant expansion of the rules of standing enabling representation of animals before the Courts by litigation guardians, in a similar model to that used for children and the mentally ill.
Details
- Title
- Cattle v the Crown: is there a place for the Commonwealth as animal welfare guardian?
- Creators
- Brendan Walker-Munro
- Publication Details
- The University of Queensland law journal, Vol.34(2), pp.363-391
- Publisher
- University of Queensland Press
- Identifiers
- 991013167311202368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article