Sentience — being a living, feeling creature — forms the very core of what it means to be an animal. Indeed, the ability to feel is what distinguishes animals from objects — it makes animals ‘whos’, not ‘whats.’ While the legal system has grappled with this truism from its inception, only recently have courts begun building an internally coherent approach to ensuring that the law treats animals as feeling creatures who deserve justice.
Join Animal Legal Defense Fund Senior Staff Attorneys Jamie Contreras and David B. Rosengard as they discuss how the legal system treats animal sentience and how a trilogy of Oregon cases recognizing animal sentience points towards a new framework for animals within the law.
This webinar was prerecorded. Watch it now!
Resources
- Animals’ Legal Status
- Two Great Legal Victories for Animals in Oregon
- Update: Each Animal Counts!
- Advocating for Justice in Oregon: Neglected Horse Sues Former Owner
- How Animals Differ from Other Types of “Property” Under the Law
- Dogs Are Not Mere Property, Rules Oregon Supreme Court
- Critical Caselaw: Judicial Recognition of Animal Sentience – PPT Presentation (PDF)
- State v. Fessenden Court of Appeals (PDF)
- State v. Fessenden Supreme Court (PDF)
- State v. Newcomb Supreme Court (PDF)
- State v. Nix Supreme Court 2014 (PDF)
- State v. Nix Supreme Court (PDF)
- Judicial Recognition of Animal Sentience discussion guide (PDF)
-
David B. Rosengard
Managing Attorney
Focus Area
How We Work
Issues
Related
-
A Dog Named Smokey Reunites with Guardian After Being Kidnapped
The Animal Legal Defense Fund partnered with spcaLA to take custody of the dog until his guardian could retrieve himOctober 7, 2025 News -
Lawsuit to Proceed Against USDA for Issuing Animal Welfare Act License to Yellowstone Bear World
The complaint argues the wildlife park has violated the Animal Welfare Act on numerous occasions, including separating cubs prematurely from their mothersSeptember 19, 2025 News -
ALDF Partners with Advocates to Challenge EPA for Discarding Slaughterhouse Water Pollution Rules
10 Organizations petition federal court over EPA’s abandonment of rules to reduce pollution from meat processing industrySeptember 19, 2025 News
