Farmed animals and US law

Cheryl Leahy and Piper Hoffman

Chapter 40 in Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Animal Law, 2025, pp 155-157 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In the US, the federal statutes protecting animals are few. No federal statute protects farmed animals from birth until transport or slaughter, nor do they protect the vast majority of farmed animals: birds (for example, chickens) and aquatic animals (for example, fish). State anti-cruelty laws afford more potential protections. Most of them apply to most farmed animals, but not to all types of cruelty. A majority of states exempt common agricultural industry practices from criminal liability, even if they otherwise meet the definition of unlawful cruelty. Moreover, at both the federal and state levels, laws that protect animals are not well enforced. Only the government can enforce these laws, and they are accountable to no one when they fail to do so. Therefore, animal advocates should replicate cases that have successfully lowered any of the hurdles in the way of private parties who wish to protect animals through the legal system or favourably interpreted substantive law.

Keywords: Animals; Farm; Cruelty; Law; United States; Agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781803923666
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