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The Legal Recognition of Animal Sentience: Principles, Approaches and Applications

The Legal Recognition of Animal Sentience: Principles, Approaches and Applications

Author: Jane Kotzmann; M.B. Rodriguez Ferrere
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781509970490

Published In: December 2025
Format: Paperback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only
Hardback Edition ISBN: 9781509970452

List Price: HKD 558.87

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This book explores the movement towards the recognition of animal sentience in the law. It explores some first principles underpinning the recognition of animal sentience, including the nature and scope of sentience provisions, the connection between sentience and empathy, drafting issues, and the relationship between sentience recognition and animal rights. The book highlights the operation of animal sentience provisions in several jurisdictions throughout the world and considers some sector-specific applications and limitations of animal sentience recognition. The first book of its kind, it draws together different perspectives as to what this novel turn in the law might mean and where it might lead. The chapters provide a full picture of what the recognition of animal sentience might entail for humans, animals, and our environment, as well as the experiences of different legal jurisdictions in pursuing recognition of animal sentience. This collection is an essential read for both practitioners and academics alike, as well as any group seeking to advance the interests of non-human animals.

Foreword, Donald Broom (University of Cambridge, UK)

Introduction, Jane Kotzmann (Deakin University, Australia) and M B Rodriguez Ferrere (University of Otago, New Zealand)

Part One: First Principles of Sentience Recognition

1. The Nature and Scope of the Legal Recognition of Animal Sentience: A Functional Comparative Analysis of the Lex Lata, and Critical Remarks on Its Future Development, Charlotte Blattner (University of Bern, Switzerland) 2. Sentience, Empathy, and the Need for Both Justification and Motivation, Morgan Stonebridge (Deakin University, Australia) 3. Drafting and Interpreting Sentience Provisions: Incorporating Modern Science in Animal Welfare Law as a Legislative Requirement, Daniel Goldsworthy (Deakin University, Australia) and Ian A Robertson (Sentient Animal Law Foundation, New Zealand) 4. Sentience Recognition as a Means for Moving Beyond Animal Welfare to Animal Rights, Jane Kotzmann (Deakin University, Australia)

Part Two: Regional and National Approaches to Legal Recognition

5. Owning Sentient Beings: The Potential of Sentience Recognition in Continental Law, Eva Bernet Kempers (University of Antwerp, Belgium) 6. Common Sense: Animal Sentience and the Common Law, Joe Wills (University of Leicester, UK) 7. All Roads Lead to Sentience: The Past, Present, and Future of Animal Legal Protection in Brazil, Vanessa Gischkow Garbini (Harvard Law School, USA) 8. The Judicial Recognition of Animal Sentience: Developments in Pakistan and India, Hira Jaleel (Lewis and Clark Law School, USA) 9. Legal Recognition of Sentience in New Zealand, M B Rodriguez Ferrere (University of Otago, New Zealand) 10. A Field Trip into Quebec Law: Exploring the Theoretical Ramifications of Sentience Recognition, Michael Lessard (University of Sherbrooke, Canada) 11. Perspectives on the Recognition of Animal Sentience in Spain, Carlos Andres Contreras (Harvard Law School, USA) 12. The Animal Sentience Committee: Evolution or Revolution in the Legal Recognition of Animal Sentience in the UK? Rachel Dunn (Leeds Beckett University, UK) and Joshua Jowitt (Newcastle University, UK) 13. Affirmative Acts of Recognition: How Codifications of Animal Sentience are Ushering Animals into the Focus of U.S. Law, Rajesh K Reddy (Lewis & Clark Law School, USA)

Part Three: Applications and Limitations

14. Sentiency, Exceptionalism and Farm Animal Protection, Steven White (Griffith University, Australia) 15. Err on the Side of Sentience: The European Precautionary Principle, Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Invertebrates, Paulien Christiaenssen (Ghent University, Belgium) 16. Animal Sentience Recognition and Theoretical Connotations: Possible Implications for Animals in Research, Jane Kotzmann (Deakin University, Australia) and Hope Ferdowsian (University of New Mexico School of Medicine, USA) 17. The Utility (or Otherwise) of Symbolic Legislation, M B Rodriguez Ferrere (University of Otago, New Zealand)