This is a fast-growing field of law, and today more and more lawyers are finding they have cases that deal with animal law. This one-stop resource contains every major aspect of private civil and criminal litigation of animal law disputes. The book also contains sample litigation documents, discovery materials, expert information and more. It's the one resource every lawyer who engages in animal law needs.

This text not only covers obvious topics such as dangerous dog litigation, veterinary malpractice, wildlife law, service animals, valuation of animals, humans harmed by animals, end-of-life/euthanasia, and custody issues; but also provides analysis of other areas of law where they intersect with animal law issues, such as: criminal law, estate planning, consumer protection, bankruptcy, insurance law, contractual disputes, and Section 1983. Summary provided by Syndetics.

Sonia S. Waisman is an Adjunct Professor of Law, California Western School of Law, Of Counsel, Morrison & Foerster, LLP.

Conflicts over animals are among the toughest to resolve. People form deep emotional bonds with their pets-after all, they're members of the family-so when a dispute involves animals, people get just as angry as if the clash were over their human children. When they've finally had enough, they head to court where the law treats the pet as property-as just a thing. But there's a better way: mediation. Whether your conflict is over who gets the cat in a divorce, how to deal with a barking dog, or any other issue, a neutral mediator can bring you and the other person together so you can hear each other out, acknowledge each other's feelings, and resolve your dispute. Not only can mediation settle the conflict in less time and with less expense than litigation, but it can save and even strengthen relationships. In Nipped in the Bud, Not in the Butt: How to Use Mediation to Resolve Conflicts over Animals, litigator-turned-mediator Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton introduces her proven techniques for addressing your conflict, working out a mutually satisfactory solution, and ensuring the well-being of the most important party-the beloved pet or animal in need.

This text not only covers obvious topics such as dangerous dog litigation, veterinary malpractice, wildlife law, service animals, valuation of animals, humans harmed by animals, end-of-life/euthanasia, and custody issues, but also provides analysis of other areas of law where they intersect with animal law issues, such as criminal law, estate planning, consumer protection, bankruptcy, insurance law, contractual disputes, and Section 1983.

For much of our history, legal scholars focused predominantly on the law’s implications for human beings, while ignoring how the law influences animal welfare. Since the 1970s, however, there has been a steep increase in animal advocates’ use of the courts. Animal law has blossomed into a vibrant academic discipline, with a rich literature that examines how the law affects animal welfare and the ability of humans to advocate on behalf of nonhuman animals. But most animal law literature tends to be doctrinally-based or normative. There has been little empirical study of the outcomes of animal law cases and there has been very little attention paid to the political influences of these outcomes. This book fills the gap in animal law literature. This is the first empirically-based analysis of animal law that emphasizes the political forces that shape animal law outcomes.

Unleashing Rights is a study of the animal rights movement's efforts to advance social reform through the deployment of legal language and practices. The study looks at how prevailing understandings of rights language have shaped the attempt to put forth the idea that animals have rights, and how this attempt, in turn, offers the opportunity to reconstruct the meaning of rights. The book also examines the way litigation has influenced the movement's activities and opportunities for success. Presented here is an investigation of the legal system through a decentered, cultural approach. Legal languages and practices are viewed as a part of everyday life--constructed, used, and interpreted not only by those who run official legal institutions but also by everyday people with a legal consciousness. Using this approach, the book questions whether the deployment of rights and litigation by animal rights advocates has challenged prevailing legal meaning. Looking to both the constitutive and instrumental aspects of law, and to how each informs the other, Unleashing Rights finds that the resort to rights and litigation has advanced movement goals and contributed to alternative constructions of legal meaning. The study concludes that despite their many constraints, both rights talk and litigation are powerful resources for those who seek change, especially when used by strategically minded activists. Unleashing Rights is a book that illustrates the relationship between law, social movement activism, and social change. The book joins the ongoing debate within public law scholarship that is concerned with the effectiveness of legal strategies and languages. The book also speaks to those interested in the general study of social movements and in the particular study of the animal rights movement. With its cultural approach focused on rights language and the construction of meaning, the work will be of interest to the disciplines of law and political science, as well as those who study sociology, anthropology, and philosophy. Helena Silverstein is F. M. Kirby Assistant Professor of Government and Law, Lafayette College.