Emerging Law Policy/Companion Animals (446-S2)

Visiting Professor Mark Cushing, Tonkon Torp LLP
Two-Week Intensive: July 6 - July 19, 2010
1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
2 credit hours
* First time course offering!

The United States has witnessed a surge in the population of companion animals over the past thirty years.  Despite the rising profile in courts and legislatures of animal welfare concerns involving production animals, major policy and legal issues are emerging (but are as yet unresolved) for pets and pet owners in America.  How and from where do we source our dogs and cats?  Should states or local jurisdictions establish a priority for placement of shelter dogs and cats, and does this trigger legal concerns?  What standards should govern the breeding of dogs in America, and should this be a power reserved to the federal government, or to states or even local governments?  Should the status of pet ownership (and attendant rights) migrate towards guardianship?  As pets increasingly become extensions of family, should restrictions be abandoned against non-economic claims for damages against veterinarians?  Are there legal and policy concerns with breed-specific and mandatory spay/neuter legislation?  Should there be caps on numbers of companion animals?  What are the legal and policy implications of the emergence of data and studies on the Human-Pet Bond?  What are the lessons from the recent Pet Food Recall?