Rights for Nonhuman Animals: A Guardianship Model for Dogs and Cats
![handle is hein.journals/sanlr14 and id is 494 raw text is: RIGHTS FOR NONHUMAN ANIMALS:
A GUARDIANSHIP MODEL FOR DOGS AND CATS
Throughout legal history, each successive extension of rights to
some new entity has been, theretofore, a bit unthinkable. We are
inclined to suppose the rightlessness of rightless things to be a
decree of Nature, not a legal convention acting in support of some
status quo.1
INTRODUCTION
The idea that nonhuman animals should have rights is amusing
to many people.2 Those humans who support the extension of
rights to nonhumans are frequently branded sentimental,3 a label
which has significantly impeded serious discussion4 of our attitudes
toward nonhumans.
Nevertheless, those in the growing movement for animal libera-
tion5 are quite serious. They see the oppression and suffering of
millions of nonhumans,6 readily visible to us all, and are demanding
1. C. STONE, SHOULD TREES HAVE STANDING? TovwAnD LEGAL RIGHTS FOR
NATURAL OBJECTS 6 (1974). This book appeared in its entirety in 45 S. CAL.
L. REv. 450, 453 (1972).
2. C. STONE, supra note 1, at 8.
3. A. SCHWEiTzER, REVERENCE FOR LIFE 5 (1965); P. SINGER, ANIMAL
LIBERATION ix (1975) [hereinafter cited as SINGER]; Brophy, In Pursuit of a
Fantasy, in ANIMALS, MEN AND MORALS 130 (R. Godlovitch, S. Godlovitch, &
J. Harris eds. 1972) [hereinafter cited as Brophy]; Regan, The Moral Basis
of Vegetarianism, 5 CAN. J. PHILO. 181, 182 (1975).
4. SINGER, supra note 3, at ix.
5. The leading text in the Animal Rights Movement is P. SINGER, ANI-
MAL LIBERATION (1975). See ANIMALS?- MEN AND MORALS (R. Godlovitch,
S. Godlovitch, & J. Harris eds. 1972); Fallows, Lo, The Poor Animals!
What Did Noah Save Them For?, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY, Sept. 1976, at
58; Note, Toward Legal Rights for Animals, 4 ENVTL AFF. 205 (1975)
[hereinafter cited as Legal Rights for Animals].
6. Almost every facet of human activity has some adverse effect on non-
humans. For example, the cosmetics worn by humans are exhaustively
tested on nonhumans. Rabbits are widely used to test cosmetics for possi-
ble eye damage. The rabbits are placed in boxes with only their heads
protruding; their eyes are held open with metal clips, and concentrated
solutions of the experimental substance are dripped into their eyes. In
some tests, applications are repeated over several days to measure the dam-
age done. Damage may include severe pain, injury to the eye, or total
blindness. See SINGER, supra note 3, at 50-51.
The eating habits of most humans directly conflict with nonhumans' in-](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/sanlr14&div=25&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Rights for Nonhuman Animals: A Guardianship Model for Dogs and Cats
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