Liability for injuries to animals

Ani B. Satz

Chapter 64 in Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Animal Law, 2025, pp 242-244 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In the US, individuals who harm certain animals, owned and unowned, may be held criminally and/or civilly liable. Every state criminalizes animal cruelty, and several federal statutes also impose criminal liability for conduct that injures some animals. State and federal criminal liability for injuring an animal may be a misdemeanor or a felony. Civil liability for injuring an animal may be based on either direct harm to the animal or harm caused to humans by animal injury and may be imposed by state or federal law. State tort law, which includes the law of personal injury, covers most state civil liability for harm to animals and provides damages to humans for the harm they suffer as a result of the injury or death of an animal. Given global climate change and the increase of pathogens, tort liability may emerge for harm to animals stemming from habitat and biodiversity loss as well as pathogen transfer that results in the culling of large animal populations to stem the spread of disease.

Keywords: Sanctions; Liability; Civil; Criminal; Tort; Property (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781803923666
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