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

Journal Articles

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.).
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