This course will provide a cross-sectional examination of issues
concerning animals and how those issues pervade different areas
of law.  After reviewing different ethical approaches to the
treatment of animals, the course will look at the two basic
groupings of animals made in the law:  wild animals and
domesticated animals.  In the former category, the course will
cover such topics as hunting regulations and endangered species
regulations.  In the latter category, the course will explore 
how
the law treats questions of the use of animals for food,
experimentation, and entertainment, as well emerging questions 
in
veterinary malpractice.  Legal treatment of animals in more
traditional areas of law such as property (e.g. ownership vs.
guardianship), tort (e.g., liability for torts committed by and
to animals), and criminal law (e.g. animal cruelty statutes) 
will
also be considered.  Students should emerge with an overview of
the special status that animals have in the law.

I.  Introduction to ethical claims of animals
    A.  Utilitiarian from Bentham to Singer
    B.  Nonutilitarian
II.  Wildlife law
    A.  The rule of capture and beyond
    B.  Rights for hunters and non-hunters
    C.  Endangered species and other protected animals
III.  Domesticated animals
    A.  Regulation of farming practices and food sources
(federal, state, and voluntary)
    B.  Use of animals in experimentation (Animal Welfare Act,
university practices)
    C.  Animals in entertainment (animal fighting, rodeos, films
and other media)
    D.  Veterinary practices and food safety
IV.  Animals through the law
    A.  Property:  Animal ownership vs. animal guardianship
    B.  Torts:  Torts committed by and to animals
    C.  Criminal law:  Requirements for proving animal cruelty