Useful Resources
A selection of resources are listed below to encourage further reading on legal personhood for nonhuman animals and the field of animal ethics. Please feel free to contact education@voiceless.org.au with suggested additions.
Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) Resources
- Blogs, interviews and case literature are available on The NHRP website.
- Keynote Lecture by Professor Steven Wise, delivered at the 2015 Voiceless Animal Law Lecture Series: Beyond the Cage.
- Unlocking the Cage, a 2016 documentary about the NHRP directed by Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker.
Legislation and Case Law
- Judgment denying personhood on the grounds of legal duties: The Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc., on behalf of Tommy, v. Patrick C. Lavery (2014).
- Opinion of New York Court of Appeals Judge Eugene M. Fahey in The Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc., on behalf of Tommy, v. Patrick C. Lavery (Decided May 8 2018).
- Philosophers’ brief submitted in support of nonhuman personhood and chimpanzee rights.
- Comprehensive court documents are available for the individual cases of Tommy; Kiko; Hercules and Leo; Beulah, Karen and Minnie; and Happy.
- Judgment of the High Court of Uttarakhand, India, on the Ganges and Yamuna River cases.
- Case note on the constitutional rights of nature in Ecuador.
- Legislation establishing legal personality of the Whanganui River, New Zealand.
Journal Articles
- Best, A.P.A. ‘Property or “Penumbral” Persons? An Examination of Two Jurisprudential Approaches to the Nonhuman Rights Project Litigation’ (2018) XIV Journal of Animal and Natural Resources Law 33.
- Cupp, R.L. ‘Litigating Nonhuman Animal Legal Personhood’ (2018) 50 Texas Tech Law Review 573.
- Cupp, R.L. ‘Moving Beyond Animal Rights: A Legal/Contractual Critique’ Pepperdine University School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper series, Paper No 2009/11′, (2009) 46 San Diego Law Review 27.
- Eisen, J. ‘Beyond Rights and Welfare: Democracy, Dialogue, and the Animal Welfare Act’ (2017-2018) 51 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 469.
- Epstein, R.A. ‘Animals as Objects, or Subjects, of Rights’ (2002) U Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper No. 171.
- Favre, D. ‘Equitable self-ownership for animals’ (2000) 50 Duke Law Journal 473.
- Kotzmann, J. & Pendergrast, N. ‘Animal Rights: Time to Start Unpacking What Rights and for Whom‘ (2019) 46(1) Mitchell Hamline Law Review 6.
- Kymlicka, W. ‘Social Membership: Animal Law beyond the Property/Personhood Impasse’ (2017) 40 Dalhousie Law Journal 123.
- Marceau, J.F. & Wise, S. ‘Exonerating the Innocent: Habeas for Nonhuman Animals’ (2018) University of Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 18-16.
- Morris, J. D. & Ruru, J. ‘Giving voice to rivers: legal personality as a vehicle for recognising indigenous peoples’ relationships to water?’ (2010) 14(2) Australian Indigenous Law Review 49.
- Naffine, N. ‘Who are law’s persons? From Cheshire Cats to responsible subjects’ (2003) 66(3) Modern Law Review 346.
- O’Donnell, E. ‘At the intersection of the sacred and the legal: rights for nature in Uttarakhand, India’ (2018) 30(1) Journal of Environmental Law 135.
- O’Donnell, E. & Talbot-Jones, J. ‘Creating legal rights for rivers: lessons from Australia, New Zealand, and India’ (2018) 21(3) Ecology and Society 7.
- O’Donnell, E. & Talbot-Jones, J. ‘Legal rights for rivers: what does this actually mean?‘ (2017) 32(6) Australian Environment Review 159.
- Sax, J. L. ‘The public trust doctrine in natural resource law: effective judicial intervention’ (1970) 68(3) Michigan Law Review 471.
- Shaw, R. ‘A Case for Recognizing the Rights of Animals as Workers’ (2018) 2 Journal of Animal Ethics 182.
- Staker, A. ‘Should Chimpanzees Have Standing? The Case for Pursuing Legal Personhood for Non-Human Animals’ (2017) 6(3) Transnational Environmental Law 485.
- Stone, C.D. ‘Response to commentators. Journal of Human Rights and the Environment’ (2012) 3 Journal of Human Rights and Environment 100.
- Stone, C.D. ‘Should trees have standing? Towards legal rights for natural objects’ (1972) 45 Southern California Law Review 450.
- Tischler, J. ‘Rights for Nonhuman Animals: A Guardianship Model for Dogs and Cats’ (1977) 14 San Diego Law Review 484.
- Whittemore, M.E. ‘The problem of enforcing nature’s rights under Ecuador’s constitution: why the 2008 environmental amendments have no bite’ (2011) 20 Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal 659.
- Wise, S.M. ‘Legal Personhood and the Nonhuman Rights Project’ (2010) 17 Animal Law 1.
- Wise, S.M. ‘Nonhuman Rights to Personhood’ (2012-13) 30(3) Pace Environmental Law Review 1278.
Books and Dissertations
- Favre, D. Animal Law: Welfare, Interests, and Rights (Wolters Kluwer, 2008).
- Francione, G. Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement (Temple University Press, 1996).
- Francione, G. Animals, Property, and the Law (Temple University Press, 1995).
- Francione, G. Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? (Temple University Press, 2000).
- Nussbaum, M.C. Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006).
- O’Donnell, E. Dissertation: Constructing the aquatic environment as a legal subject: legal rights, market participation, and the power of narrative (University of Melbourne Law School, 2017).
- Regan, T. The Case for Animal Rights (University of California Press, 1983).
- Schaffner, J.E. An Introduction to Animals and the Law (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
- Stone, C.D. Should trees have standing? Law, morality and the environment (Oxford University Press, 3rd ed., 2010).
- Wise, S.M. Drawing the Line: Science and the Case for Animal Rights (Perseus, 2002).
- Wise, S.M. Rattling the Cage: Towards Legal Rights for Animals (Persus, 2000).
- Wise, S.M. Though the Heavens May Fall: The Landmark Trial That Led to the End of Human Slavery (Da Capo Press 2005).
Selected Textbook Chapters on Ethics
- Bruce, A. Animal Law in Australia: An Integrated Approach (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2018) – Chapter 2: Development of Contemporary Animal Law.
- Cao, D. & White, S. (eds.) Animal Law and Welfare – International Perspectives (Springer, 2016) – Chapter 4: Science, Animal Ethics and the Law (Verrinder, J.M., McGrath, N. & Phillips, C.J.C.).
- Cao, D. Animal Law in Australia and New Zealand (Lawbook Co, 2nd ed., 2015) – Chapter 1: Animals: Morality, Science and Justice and Chapter 3: Legal Status of Animals.
- Sankoff, P. & White, S. (eds.) Animal Law in Australasia (The Federation Press, 2009) – Chapter 4: Exploring Different Philosophical Approaches to Animal Protection in Law (White, S.) and Chapter 6: The Use and Misuse of ‘Rights Talk’ by the Animal Rights Movement (Bourke, D.).