Legislating for Farmed Animal Welfare: 2016 Update

In this update to her previous course, animal protection lawyer Elizabeth (Liz) Hallinan discusses the current state of legal protections for farmed animals in the United States. To this day, few federal laws protect the welfare of farmed animals. In fact, animals raised for food in the United States enjoy no federal legal protection from birth until transport to slaughter. At slaughter, meager federal welfare protections apply only to a small minority of farmed animals. In the face of significant challenges to securing federal protection for these animals, advocates have increasingly turned to lobbying and ballot initiatives at the state and local level to target some of the worst and most prevalent forms of animal cruelty in the meat, milk, and egg industries.

Here, Ms. Hallinan reviews both successful and unsuccessful attempts to pass meaningful protections for these animals and explains why efforts at federal legislation often fail. She also explores the possible shortcomings of state-level initiatives and other legislative efforts, including the various legal challenges these efforts have faced in court. 

1. Understand federal and state laws that protect farmed animals
2. Recognize past and current legislative efforts to enact welfare protections
3. Address legal challenges to state laws protecting both animals and consumers