Talking Animal Law

In this episode we discuss the capture and slaughter of fish in commercial fisheries with John Garratt, co-author of a paper with Dr Steven McCulloch 'Wild Fish Welfare in UK Commercial Sea Fisheries: Qualitative Analysis of Stakeholder Views'. This is a deep dive into fish welfare during the capture and killing processes, exploring opportunities for law reform and how measures to protect fish welfare can support other objectives.

In this episode, we discuss the legal protection of farmed fish with Amro Hussain, Senior Public Affairs Lead at The Humane League. In particular, we focus on the protection of welfare at the time of killing and ask why current legal protections are not sufficient.

Dr Christina Nellist, B.Ed; Ph.D; FOCAE. Eastern Orthodox Theologian, Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and Editor of Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals, talks about animals and theology. This episode explores how Christian theology has influenced the development of law in the Western hemisphere and how it can help us navigate some of the current dilemas about society's treatment of animals.

This episode is co-hosted with Tamara Bedic, Chair of the Animal Rights Committee of the New York Guild of Lawyers (New York City division). We are talking about trophy hunting with our guests, Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting in the UK and Professor David Bilchitz, Professor of Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Johannesburg and Professor of Law at the University of Reading.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Steven McCulloch, veterinary surgeon and expert in animal welfare about the use of farrowing crates. Dr McCulloch is the author of a recent report called Banning Farrowing Crates in the UK: Transitioning to Free Farrowing to Meet the Welfare Needs of Pigs. We discuss the use of farrowing crates and the call for a ban on animal welfare grounds.

Historian Dr Hilda Kean, former Dean of Ruskin College, Oxford, takes us back to nineteenth century Britain, as she discusses the landscape for animals around the enactment of Martin's Act 1822 (named after its sponsor, Richard Martin MP), the first national legislation intended specifically to make animal cruelty an offence.

This episode contains references to animal cruelty, including cat skinning, that some people may find distressing.

In this week's episode we talk to Duncan McNair, CEO of Save the Asian Elephants ('STAE') about elephants, and the impact that unethical elephant tourist attractions have on the welfare of the individual elephant and on the elephant population. Duncan discusses proposals for law reform that would see a ban on the marketing of certain tourist attractions in Asia involving elephants.

Dr Angus Nurse is the author of a Government commissioned report: 'Investigation of measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible ownership amongst dog owners with dog control issues in the UK.' 2021. Dr Nurse discusses the report and its implications for dog control policy, law and enforcement.