Sunday, November 4, 2012

The Purpose of the Zoo and Aquarium Law Blog


The art of displaying live animals, fish and other creatures has existed in one form or another for many years. Some of the earliest predecessors of today’s zoos and aquariums were displays maintained by ancient Egyptians and Chinese emperors thousands of years ago.  European royalty displayed oddities in menageries hundreds of years ago.  The earliest predecessor of the modern zoo was the London Zoological Garden opened in about 1825. The first modern zoo in the United States was The Bronx Zoo which opened in New York in about 1900. 

 

The earliest zoos were government sponsored exhibitions.  In more recent years zoos and aquariums have become businesses. In most cases these businesses are operated as nonprofits but in some instances they are also operated as successful (and in some cases not so successful) for-profit businesses.

 

Historically zoos and aquariums have been lightly regulated as an industry. Those regulations which existed tended to be in the areas of animal husbandry, and were derived from considerations of agricultural enterprises.   Zoos and aquariums were also subject to certain import-export requirements, laws governing endangered species and laws generally relating to public safety.  Little if any consideration was given to the actual operation of zoos and aquariums themselves. Even today the operation of zoos and aquariums is governed more by policies and procedures derived from accrediting organizations such as the Association of Zoos and Aquariums than by statutes and regulations imposed by governmental authorities.

 

In recent years there have been more and better organized efforts to advocate legal regulation of animal safety, animal comfort and the governance of the manner in which zoos and aquariums are operated.  These efforts are likely to continue, and as a result the level of regulation of zoos and aquariums is likely to increase as time passes.

 

Because of the increase in the amount of law governing animals (and animal rights) in the past 20 years, we have seen the start of publications regarding animal law. Several of the nation’s law schools have begun publishing law reviews specifically focused on animal rights. To date however these law reviews and publications have all focused on animal law from the perspective of animal rights. There has been little in the way of publications and organized academic legal thought from the perspective of the zoo and aquarium industry. In addition to publishing law reviews, law schools have begun teaching classes on animal rights, and creating programs revolving around animal rights and regulation of activities regarding animals.

 

The first and probably most prominent animal-rights law review is the Animal Law Journal, which was created at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland Oregon in or about 2002. In addition to publishing a regular law review, the law faculty at Lewis and Clark Law School also wrote the first academic treatise for law students in connection with animal law.  Animal Law In a Nutshell was published by West publications in 2011.[1]  The animal law program at Lewis and Clark law school has been affiliated with the Animal Legal Defense Fund since its inception and its focus is on animal rights. Recently in or about 2008 Lewis and Clark law school formalized its affiliation with the Animal Legal Defense Fund with the joint formation of The Center for Animal Law Studies.

 

In addition to publications from Lewis and Clark law school, Michigan State University began an animal-rights law program in or about 2005. Pennsylvania law school briefly published an animal rights Journal from approximately 2006-2009. Stanford Law School recently began the publication of an animal-rights Journal in 2010. All of these publications have been from the perspective of animal rights and protecting animals against abuse. None have focused on the rights or interests of zoos and aquariums.

 

In addition to academic treatises from legitimate academic institutions, there have been fringe groups which have been formed to pursue animal rights agendas such as the Nonhuman Rights Project located in Coral Springs Florida. The Nonhuman Rights Project advocates for personhood and direct legal rights for animals.  The views of the Nonhuman Rights Project are so extreme that in PETA's recent failed lawsuit against Sea world, when the Nonhuman Rights Project sought to intervene in the lawsuit and sought to present its views of the rights which should be provided to Orcas, even PETA objected to their participation.

 

The perspective brought by these organizations and their focus on animal rights and interests of animals has not been without benefits. No one can disagree that there have been beneficial improvements in the treatment of animals as a result of the publicity brought by these organizations. New standards governing space of animal enclosures and the design of enclosures has resulted in the improved animal health, better education and outreach by zoos and aquariums, better viewing by visitors to zoos and aquariums and other improvements. However the one-sided approach and the focus solely on animal rights that these organizations and publications present are not generally beneficial to the zoo and aquarium industry. The organized resistance and opposition to the zoo and aquarium industry is increasing.

 

The purpose of this blog is to provide a discussion of legal issues involving zoos and aquariums from the viewpoint of the zoo and aquarium industry. In addition to topics on animal rights, this blog will discuss other issues of legal significance to zoos such as land use issues, the more stringent application of ADA and public access requirements to zoos and aquariums, and the unique employee safety issues that can arise under OSHA and liability for escaped animals. 



[1] The Nutshell Series is a series of legal treatises intended for law students as a quick guide to a particular legal topic.

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