Guides: Animal Law: Books

Finding Books: Tips

To find books in BLS Library: search SARA catalog.
- Tip re. EBC ebooks in BLS Library's SARA catalog: First-time use of the EBC ebook platform requires BLS patrons to click: Create Account. Subsequent use of an EBC ebook: a BLS patron will need to enter the patron's username (format: firstname.lastname@brooklaw.edu) & password.
BLS Library tries to provide multiple-user access to ebooks. But sometimes vendors do not offer this purchase option or the option is expensive.
To identify resources in many other libraries: search WorldCat.
To place interlibrary loan requests for books, book chapters, articles, reports and other material: Click tab: ILL in SARA catalog and enter your BLS user name & password.
- Need help identifying material or placing an ILL request? Email: askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or text: (718) 734-2432

Overviews & Guides on Animal Law & Animal Law Research

Forthcoming (will be published open access in 2026):

Oxford Handbook of Global Animal Law by Anne Peters, Kristen Stilt & Saskia Stucki, eds.
Publication Date: Forthcoming

Excerpt from description: "The Handbook intends to be a comprehensive reference work that authoritatively establishes the new field of Global Animal Law, maps it, identifies relevant legal issues, and forms a platform for further legal research." Anticipated useful feature: This book will include the section "Country Reports" discussing laws & regulations protecting animals in a number of jurisdictions.

2023:

Animal Welfare Laws: A Legal Research Guide by Stefanie S. Pearlman & Melissa M. Serfass
Call Number: KF241.A55 P432 2023 (Reference, 3rd fl.)

Publication Date: 2023

Excerpt from HeinOnline's description: "This research guide covers the law concerning companion animals and animals confined for human benefit. Many traditional areas of law combined make up animal law: torts, contracts, domestic relations, trusts and estates and criminal law among them. Animal law is the combination of case law, statutes and regulations that governs human interactions with animals. The laws are federal, state and sometimes even municipal....This research guide will provide an overview of the primary and secondary sources in animal welfare law research." Pages 7-28 describe/cite to selected federal statutes/regulations and selected state statutes.

2022:

Global Animal Law Research: Strategies and Resources by Alex Xiaomeng Zhang & Katherine Siler, eds.
Call Number: K86.A55 G56 2022 (Reserve)

Publication Date: 2022

Contents: International law research on animal law: research strategies and resources -- Researching the protection of animals in areas of armed conflict / Susan Gualtier -- Animal agriculture legal research in the European union and the United States / Deborah Heller -- Researching the legal framework for companion animals in a global context / Jean M. Wenger -- US legal research on animal law: research strategies and resources -- Researching marine mammal protection in the United States / Shay Elbaum -- Animals in entertainment law / Grace Lo -- Soring: a sore subject for equestrians / Katherine Siler -- Foreign law research on animal law: research strategies and resources -- Legal research on bullfighting in Europe and Latin America / Melissa Abernathy -- Korean animal protection law / Jootaek Lee -- African law on animal rights: trophy hunting / Kerry Lohmeier -- Whaling in Iceland and the Faroe Islands: history and legal resources / Liv Mostad-Jensen -- Animal welfare legal research in Australia and New Zealand / Sarah Reis -- Researching Chinese animal law / Alex Zhang.

Related Free Recorded Webinar: Global Animal Law Research

Several authors of chapters participated in the American Society of International Law's free online program: Global Animal Law Research on Mar. 9, 2023. Program panelistsdiscussed: "the legal framework for companion animals in a global context, the protection of animals in areas of armed conflict, marine mammal protection in the United States, and legal rights for animals in India." Click here for a description/link to the recording.

2021:

Animal Law in a Nutshell by Sonia Waisman, Pamela Frasch & Katherine Hessler
Call Number: KF390.5.A5 A75 2021 (Reserve)

Publication Date: [2021]

Contents: Introduction -- Defining "animal" -- Criminal law -- Torts -- Remedies for harm done to animals -- Contracts -- State and local regulation of animal ownership -- Wills and trusts -- Standing -- Selected federal wildlife laws -- Farmed animals -- Animals in research -- Hunting, trapping, and fishing -- Animal activism -- International animal law.

2009:

Litigating Animal Law Disputes: A Complete Guide for Lawyers by Joan E. Schaffner
Call Number: KF390.5.A5 L58 2009 (Reserve)

Publication Date: 2009

Animal law: a significant journey / Barbara J. Gislason -- Joan E. Schaffner, Julie I. Fershtman -- Negligence and tort law / Julie I. Fershtman -- Ownership, custody, and keeping of animals / Stacy L. Kelly -- Veterinary malpractice / Gregory M. Dennis -- Animal-related contract and sales disputes / Julie I. Fershtman -- Disabled, service animals, and the law / Gary C. Norman -- Animal insurance litigation / Julie I. Fershtman -- Legal issues involving animal associations and individuals helping animals / Zandra Anderson -- Remedies in animal-related litigation / Joan E. Schaffner -- Criminal law / Dana M. Campbell, Pamela D. Frasch -- Expert witness / Katherine C. Bloomquist -- Practical considerations for attorneys handling animal law cases / Julie I. Fershtman -- Appendices.

Available Recent Books on Animal Law, Animal Rights & Animal Welfare

2026:

Regulating International Trade in Wildlife: 50 Years of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora by David Morgan
Call Number: K3525 .M674 2026 (Int'l.)

Publication Date: c2026

Excerpt from book's description: "Regulating International Trade in Wildlife: 50 Years of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora represents the first published history of the Convention to coincide with the 50th anniversary of its entry into force. It examines the context under which the Convention was created, and charts the development of its internal organization, including its governing and intersessional bodies and its secretariat, and the personalities that built them. CITES’ business is about the conservation of species affected by international trade. This book reviews the application of CITES to whales, the African elephant, crocodilians, vicuña, timber and tree species, fish and other marine species. The Convention’s compliance framework is arguably its most pre-eminent feature. The book looks at the way that key obligations on Parties have been identified, the standards of implementation set, what efforts are made to help Parties comply with these, and what sanctions are taken against Parties that fail to implement them. Finally, the author offers some personal reflections on the successes and failures of CITES, based on his 40 years of engagement with the Convention, and looks ahead to how it might develop in its second half-century."

2025:

Animals and the Constitution: Towards Sentience-Based Constitutionalism by John Olusegun Adenitire &d Raffael Fasel
Publication Date: 2025

Multiple digital copies are available through BLS LIbrary's subscription to Oxford Scholarship Online: Law.
Excerpt from book's description: "This book breaks new ground by challenging the human-centredness of current constitutional theory and practices. It pioneers a more capacious account of constitutionalism—sentience-based constitutionalism—which is grounded in respect for the interests of all governed sentient beings....To illustrate how these principles can be reimagined to protect the interests of both humans and animals, the book draws on and examines numerous real-world examples, ranging from judicial recognitions of wild animals’ rights in Ecuador, to direct democratic votes on primate rights in Switzerland, to entire bills of rights proposals for animals in Finland."
Multispecies Legality: Animals and the Foundation of Legal Inclusion by Serrin Rutledge-Prior
Publication Date: 2025

Dec. 9, 2025: BLS Library is in the process of ordering digital access to this book.
Excerpt from book's description: "In this groundbreaking work, Serrin Rutledge-Prior departs from those who have proposed to extend legal personhood to animals, which in practice has proven to be exclusionary and inconsistently applied by the courts. Instead, Rutledge-Prior offers a new principle to ground legal inclusion based on a principle of multispecies legality that extends legal subjecthood to anyone – human or nonhuman – who possess interests."

Related links: Constitutional Provisions Related to Animal Treatment @ Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program, Harvard Law School.

2024:

Animal Law Worldwide: Key Issues and Main Trends Across 27 Jurisdictions by Federico Dalpane & Maria Baideldinova, eds.
Publication Date: 2024

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). BLS Library has one copy of this ebook.
Excerpt from book description: "[O]ffers a unique panoramic survey of the state of animal law in twenty-six countries and in the legal system of the European Union. The authors give a brief introduction to each jurisdiction, examine key issues, and formulate recommendations."
Animals As Crime Victims by Lacey Levitt, David B. Rosengard & Jessica Rubin, eds.
Publication Date: 2024

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). BLS Library has one copy of this ebook.
Excerpt from this ebook's description: The authors "bring together expert contributors from various fields who argue for reconceptualizing animals as crime victims and examine the legal ramifications of doing so. Chapters explore how recognition as crime victims not only makes animals and their own interests visible within the law but affords them substantive rights. Alongside a proposed legal framework, this incisive book details modern scientific discoveries regarding the complexity of animals' cognition and emotions and the historical and contemporary sociological shifts in our relationships with animals."
Criminal Justice, Wildlife Conservation and Animal Rights in the Anthropocene by Ragnhild A. Sollund & Martine S. B. Lie, eds.
Publication Date: 2024

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). BLS Library has one copy of this ebook.
Excerpt from this ebook's description: "This book addresses one of today's most urgent issues: the loss of wildlife and habitat, which together constitute an ecological crisis. Combining studies from different disciplines such as law, political science and criminology, with a focus on animal rights, the chapters explore the successes and failures of the international wildlife conservation and trade treaties, CITES and the BERN Convention."
The Legal Recognition of Animal Sentience: Principles, Approaches and Applications by Jane Kotzmann & M. B. Rodriguez Ferrere
Publication Date: 2024

Dec. 9, 2025: BLS Library has ordered 1 paperback copy of this book.
Excerpt from book's description: "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."
More Equal Than Others: Humans and the Rights of Other Animals by Raffael N. Fasel
Publication Date: 2024

Multiple digital copies available through BLS Library's subscription to Oxford Scholarship Online: Law.
Prof. Raffael N. Fasel is Co-Director of the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law. Excerpt from this ebook's description: "One of the key questions, which this book addresses, is whether conferring fundamental legal rights to animals would undermine the equal status and rights of humans. The book explains that, while failing to extend legal rights to animals withholds entitlements from them that they deserve based on their capacities, granting animals rights based on capacities threatens to undermine the status and rights of humans lacking these capacities. The book proposes an unorthodox but practical solution to this conundrum: the Species Membership Approach (SMA). According to the SMA, legal rights and similar entitlements should be granted to animals based on the species to which they belong, not their individual capacities."
Non-Human Rights: Critical Perspectives by Alexis Alvarez-Nakagawa & Costas Douzinas, eds.
Publication Date: 2024

In catalog record for this ebook, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). BLS Library has 3 copies of this ebook.
Includes these chapters: A critical introduction to Non-Human Rights / Alexis Alvarez-Nakagawa -- Residual humanism / Colin Dayan -- On the juridical existence of animals: the case of a bear in Colombia's Constitutional Court / Edward Mussawir -- Why nature has no rights / Alain Pottage -- The rights of robots / David J. Gunkel -- Who is the subject of (non) human rights? / Alexis Alvarez-Nakagawa -- Deliberate legal equivocations: making non-human persons, multiplying differences / Ciméa B. Bevilaqua -- The EU Charter on Rights of Nature: colliding cosmovisions on nonhuman relations / Marie-Catherine Petersmann.

2023:

Animal Rights and the Hebrew Bible by Saul M. Olyan
Publication Date: 2023

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). BLS Library has one copy of this ebook.
Excerpt from Oxford's book description: "The first detailed treatment of animal rights in the Hebrew Bible....Proposes ways in which the Hebrew Bible might be used in contemporary animal advocacy."
Animal Rights Law by Raffael N. Fasel & Sean C. Butler
Call Number: K3620 .F37 2023 (Main)

Publication Date: 2023

Profs. Fasel and Butler based this book on the Animal Rights Law course that they teach at the University of Cambridge. The book begins by providing an overview of anti-cruelty and animal welfare laws. The book then discusses progress made toward granting basic rights and personhood to animals. It includes examples from 30+ legal systems.

Tip: Hart Publishing also provides an Online Resource for Animal Rights Law by Fasel and Butler. The authors provide supplementary chapter references for in-depth research and have begun to provide updates on new cases and legislation after Jan. 2023 (their book's publication date).

The Case for the Legal Protection of Animals: Humanity’s Shared Destiny with the Animal Kingdom by Kimberly C. Moore
Publication Date: 2023

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). BLS Library has one copy of this ebook.
Book description: "This book presents the case for legal protection for animals based on humanity’s shared interests and destinies with the animal kingdom. To underscore the urgent need for legal reform, the book documents how animals are in crisis, with separate discussions on animals in entertainment, research, fashion, the food industry, and animals in our homes, as well as issues that impact wildlife and aquatic animals. In each of the foregoing areas, there is a discussion of major developments for animals across the globe, the objective being to demonstrate how the U.S. is out of step with other major countries in its legal treatment of animals. The importance of media as a driver of change is also considered. This background culminates to the heart of the book, which discusses and analyzes the link between human rights and animal rights, with nine areas explored (e.g., loss of biodiversity; environmental destruction; zoonotic diseases; world hunger; violence). Challenges to legal reforms are also explored, including issues associated with weak laws, the failure to enforce existing laws, and governmental agencies that tend to overlook the actions of industries. Finally, the book explores the development of animal law and the trajectory of current laws, with analysis of developing ‘rights of nature’ laws and ‘legal personhood’ status for animals."

Related Q&A with attorney Kimberley Moore:

Michelle Quirk (reviewer), How Legal Protection for Animals Offers Many Benefits for Humans: Kimberly Moore writes about the link between human rights and animal rights (updated Dec. 28, 2023).

The Ethics of Animal Shelters by Valéry Giroux, Angie Pepper & Kristin Voigt, eds.
Call Number: HV4708 .E844 2023 (Main)

Publication Date: 2023

Contents: Valery Giroux, Angie Pepper, and Kristin Voigt -- The ethics of animal shelters: guidelines and recommendations -- The value of death for animals: an overview / Nicolas Delon -- Caring in non-ideal conditions: animal rescue organizations and morally justified killing / Angie Pepper -- Decision-making under non-ideal circumstances: establishing triage protocols for animal shelters / Angela K. Martin -- What if they were humans? non-ideal theory in the shelter / Francois Jaquet -- Being popular and being just: how animal protection organizations can be both / Agnes Tam and Will Kymlicka -- Companion animal adoption in shelters: how "open" should it be? / Valery Giroux and Kristin Voigt -- Transformative animal protection / Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka.
Farm Animal Welfare Law: International Perspectives on Sustainable Agriculture and Wildlife Regulation by Gabriela Steier, ed.
Call Number: K3620 .F37 2024 (Int'l.)

Publication Date: 2023

BLS Library provides 1 digital copy (in catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC)) + 1 print copy.
Summary: "This book introduces the various aspects of international farm animal protection and wildlife conservation through the lenses of food safety and environmental protection law. Bite-sized chapters focus on a wide range of topics from agrobiodiversity, fishing, and aquaculture to pollinators and pesticides, soil management, industrial animal production, and transportation, as well as international food trade. Animal welfare and biodiversity conservation sit at the core of the selected chapters, each one providing real-world examples to make the complex field easy to understand. Current developments including food safety modernization, blockchain, and COVID-19 considerations are addressed head-on. Farm Animal Welfare Law provides a primer for law school courses and masters' programs, for practitioners, advocates, and animal enthusiasts alike. Through its emphasis on sustainable food production, this book offers a cutting-edge selection of evolving topics at the heart of the pertinent discourse."
Global Animal Law from the Margins: International Trade in Animals and Their Bodies by Iyan Offor
Publication Date: 2023

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). BLS Library has one copy of this ebook.
Page iii of this book states that global animal law "does not sufficiently engage views from the Global South, as well as from Indigenous and other marginalised communities." This book describes "a new, intersectional second wave of animal ethics."
One Rights: Human and Animal Rights in the Anthropocene by Saskia Stucki
Publication Date: 2023

Excerpts from article (below) about this Springer Link open access ebook: "This book brings together the seemingly disparate discourses of human and animal rights, and looks at emerging animal rights as new human rights." "Moreover, this book proposes the novel One Rights approach as a new (post-)human rights paradigm for the Anthropocene."

Dr. Stucki wrote the book above while working as a Visiting Scholar in the Animal Law & Policy Program, Harvard Law School. Below is a link to a brief article about this book posted at the website of the Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program, Harvard Law School:
- News article about One Rights: Human and Animal Rights in the Anthropocene (Jan. 3, 2023)

Rise and Fall of Animal Experimentation: Empathy, Science and the Future of Research by Richard J. Miller
Publication Date: 2023

In catalog record for this ebook, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (OXFORD).
Walking with Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
Call Number: SF613.K355 A3 2023 (Main)

Publication Date: 2023

Author Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is Uganda's first wildlife vet and founder of Conservation Through Public Health. Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka's patients are the highly endangered mountain gorillas. Includes many fascinating color photographs (including many photos of the mountain gorillas).
Related program on March 14, 2024, 6 -7:30 pm (EST), New York County Lawyers Association's "Animal Rescue Law 2024" program will feature Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka.

2022:

Animals in the International Law of Armed Conflict by Anne Peters, Jérôme de Hemptinne & Robert Kolb, eds.
Publication Date: 2022

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). BLS Library has one copy of this ebook.
Carceral Logics: Human Incarceration and Animal Captivity by Lori Gruen & Justin Marceau, eds.
Publication Date: 2022

Excerpt from this Cambridge University Press open access ebook: "The dominant approach to human-animal relations is governed by an unjust imbalance of power that subordinates or ignores the interest nonhumans have in freedom. In this volume [Profs.] Lori Gruen and Justin Marceau invite experts to provide insights into the complicated intersection of issues that arise in thinking about animal law, violence, mass incarceration, and social change."
Juris Zoology: A Disssection of Animals as Legal Objects by Geordie Duckler
Call Number: KF390.5.A5 D83 2022 (Main)

Publication Date: 2022
Live, Die, Buy, Eat: A Cultural History of Animals and Meat by Karen Lykke Syse & Kristian Bjørkdahl
Publication Date: 2022

Excerpt from description of this open access Taylor & Francis ebook: "Using Norway as a case study, this book examines the dramatic changes in meat production and consumption over the last 150 years." It also discusses cultural consequences of such changes.
Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare by Andrew Knight, Clive Phillips & Paula Sparks, eds.
Publication Date: 2022

Excerpt from description of this open access Taylor & Francis ebook: "This Handbook presents a much-needed and comprehensive exploration of the rapidly growing fields of animal welfare and law." Part VI (Animal Ethics and Law) includes the highly useful overview: Ch. 33: Key Animal Law in the United States by Prof. Matthew Liebman (former director of litigation for the Animal Legal Defense Fund). Ch. 33: Discusses animals’ current legal status as property under U.S. federal/state law & animal protection movement’s strategies to try to transform animals’ legal status.
Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves: Why Animals Matter for Pandemics, Climate Change, and Other Catastrophes by Jeff Sebo
Call Number: HV4708 .S43 2022 (Main)

Publication Date: 2022

Discusses how human use of non-human animals contributes to pandemics, climate change & other human-caused global problems. Argues “we have a moral responsibility to include animals in health and environmental advocacy and policy.” Adapts/extends discussions of One Health & the Green New Deal.

2021:

Animals and Society: An Introduction to Human-Animal Studies. by Margo DeMello
Publication Date: 2021

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access.
Animals in International Law by Anne Peters
Publication Date: 2021

Dec. 9, 2025: BLS Library is in the process of purchasing digital access to this book.

Link to talk (running time: 36:24) about Animals in International Law given by Prof. Anne Peters on May 3, 2021

The Future of Animal Law by David S. Favre
Call Number: K3620 .F38 2021 (Int'l.)

Publication Date: 2021

Provides many recommendations for change in Ch. 8: New Legislation for the Animals + in Ch. 10 Private Actions Concerning Ownership of Animals.

2020:

Animal Labour: A New Frontier of Interspecies Justice? by Charlotte E. Blattner, Kendra Coulter & Will Kymlicka, eds.
Call Number: HV4708 .A54855 2020 (Main)

Publication Date: 2020

Chapter 5: Discusses why the prohibition on forced labor & the right to choose one’s work are essential to animals + how to implement these rights.
Feeding the World Well: A Framework for Ethical Food Systems by Alan M. Goldberg, ed.
Publication Date: 2020

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access.
Studies in Global Animal Law by Anne Peters, ed.
Publication Date: 2020

Tip: To view this Springer Link open access ebook, on right of screen click: Download Book PDF or Download Book EPUB.
Why Veganism Matters: The Moral Value of Animals by Gary Francione
Publication Date: 2020

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). 3 e-copies available.
Excerpt from book's Introduction, pp. 1-2: Argues “if you think that animals matter morally, then you are committed to being a vegan.” Excerpt from book's Introduction, p. 5: Asserts that “quasi-personhood does not work; the property status of animals means that animals are nothing more than things.”
Wildlife As Property Owners: A New Conception of Animal Rights by Karen Bradshaw
Call Number: KF3841 .B73 2020 (Main)

Publication Date: [2020]
Wildlife Conservation and Management by Ashok Kumar Bishoyi, ed.
Publication Date: 2020

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access.

2019:

The Crimes of Wildlife Trafficking: Issues of Justice, Legality and Morality by Ragnhild Sollund
Call Number: HV6410 .S65 2019 (Main)

Publication Date: 2019

Excerpt from book's description: This source "examines trade and trafficking in endangered species and how the trade increasingly puts large numbers of nonhuman species at risk." It discusses empirical research findings from Norway and Colombia. It also analyzes the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973 March 3), EU regulations re. protection of wild flora/fauna & an EU action plan.
Protecting Animals Within and Across Borders: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction and the Challenges of Globalization by Charlotte E. Blattner
Publication Date: 2019

On right side of screen, click: Open Access > PDF.
Excerpt from book's introduction, p. 5: Offers “a novel and systematic method to define extraterritorial jurisdiction, elucidate[s] the circumstances under which resorting to extraterritorial jurisdiction is justified, and explain[s] how states can succeed at using their jurisdictional powers to protect animals within and across borders without endangering international relations or oppressing minority groups.”

2018:

Pierson v. Post, The Hunt for the Fox: Law and Professionalization in American Legal Culture by Angela Fernandez
Publication Date: 2018

Dec. 9, 2025: BLS Library has ordered 1 print copy of this book.
Past webinar that was free for NYC Bar Association members and non-lawyers:
"By the Book: A Conversation with Professor Angela Fernandez, Author of Pierson v Post, The Hunt for the Fox: Law and Professionalization in American Legal Culture."
Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024 | 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm.
Respecting Animals: A Balanced Approach to Our Relationship with Pets, Food and Wildlife by David S. Favre
Publication Date: 2018

In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access.
Excerpts from description of this ebook: Prof. Favre "advocates an ethic of respectful use of animals, which finds it acceptable for humans to use animals within limited boundaries." "The author suggests the creation of a new legal category, living property, which would enhance the status of animals in the legal system."