The Animal Legal Defense Fund provides these resources to help you learn how animal protection laws function within the legal system.
Animals and the Law
The field of animal law is complex. Use these articles as a guide to understand the fundamentals.
In the United States, animal protection laws can be enacted and enforced at every level of government. Most animal protection legislation happens at the state level.
People who hurt animals don't stop with animals. There is an established link between cruelty to animals and violence toward humans — regularly referred to as “The Link.”
This is a brief guide to the main federal laws and agencies involved with animal testing. As you'll see, there are few laws protecting laboratory animals, and little regulatory oversight to ensure compliance with these laws.
Simply defined, animal law is the combination of statutory and case law that relates to or has an impact on nonhuman animals. It encompasses companion animals, wildlife, and animals used in entertainment, research, and raised for food.
What You Can Do
Do you need help with a specific legal situation involving an animal? Our guides below are provided with that end in mind.
It can be heartbreaking to see a neighbor’s animal suffering in a situation of neglect. Depending on the situation, there are various ways you can help the animal or animals involved.
You may be sued if your dog bites a person or attacks another animal.
Animal law is a relatively new, and growing, specialty within the law, and an increasing number of lawyers specialize in cases involving animals. In most cases it is not necessary to find an attorney who specializes in animal law specifically.
You trust your veterinarian to diagnose, treat, and care for your animal family members. But what if you suspect that your veterinarian made a mistake — and that the mistake has hurt your animal?
This is a basic overview of what to expect if you are involved in a custody battle involving animals, along with helpful tips. It's not a substitute for an attorney.
Animal neglect is the failure to provide basic care required for an animal to thrive. At first glance, such cases may seem less egregious than a single, brutal act of violent abuse, but severe neglect can mean extended periods of extreme suffering.
Whether writing to a prosecutor, sheriff, investigator or judge, there is no substitute for the most effective way of communicating: letters.
This is a broad overview intended to be useful to caregivers of animals who have been injured or killed.
Other Resources
While Craigslist officially bans the sale of companion animals, in reality such sales are common on the platform, with sellers often using the term “rehoming” in order to skirt the ban. Scams are widespread, with unethical breeders and dealers frequently selling animals who are sick, stolen, or even nonexistent.
Retail pet sale bans are a powerful way to fight back against puppy mills, and you could pass one in your own community!
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is expanding its existing “seed grant” program to also offer emergency grants to law schools who have had to cancel an animal law course for COVID-19 related reasons.
It’s critical to stay vigilant and report suspected animal cruelty to local law enforcement whenever you see it. Here are the facts about dogfighting and the warning signs you should know.
The animal agriculture industry — which is primarily comprised of enormous, multinational corporations — profits from exploiting animals and humans alike.
Pandemics have not only been predicted, they are also preventable. While the country continues to fight COVID-19, we must also prepare for — with the intention to prevent — the next pandemic. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is developing a series of papers, each outlining policy strategies calibrated to reduce specific zoonotic risks.
Wild animals used in circuses and traveling acts endure severe abuse and neglect. Help protect these animals by passing a ban on the use of animals in circuses and traveling acts in your own city and county!
The rise of plant protein and cultivated meat, fish, dairy, and other animal products carries great potential to reduce cruelty and spare millions or even billions of farmed and wild animals.