Beyond Animal Warfare Law: Humanizing the 'War on Animals' and the Need for Complementary Animal Rights

Abstract

This article puts forward a novel analogy between animal welfare law and international humanitarian law – two seemingly unrelated bodies of law that are both marked by the aporia of humanizing the inhumane. Based on a comparative analysis with the law of war, this article argues that animal welfare law is best understood as a kind of warfare law which regulates violent activities within an ongoing “war on animals,” and needs to be complemented by a jus contra bellum and peacetime animal rights.

Keywords: Animal rights, animal welfare law, international humanitarian law, law of war, human rights, global animal law, comparative law