Legislators Need to Develop a Backbone for Animals that Lack One: Including Cephalopods in the Animal Welfare Act
10 J. ANIMAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL L. 1.
16 Pages Posted: 9 Apr 2019 Last revised: 11 Apr 2022
Date Written: January 7, 2019
Abstract
The Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the only piece of federal legislation to protect animals used in research, is insufficient to the task. It excludes rats, mice, birds, and all invertebrates — animals, many of which are capable of feeling pain and possibly even suffering. One particular class of animals completely excluded by the AWA and indeed by any kind of U.S. humane research regulation is cephalopods. But, the evidence shows cephalopods are intelligent and complex animals clearly deserving of protection. Such protection would align with public consensus and could be accomplished by including cephalopods in the protective provisions of the AWA. This paper argues for their inclusion: first, because a look at the legislative history of the AWA demonstrates that legislators enacted and amended the law in order to minimize animals’ pain and suffering; second, because the preponderance of the evidence shows that cephalopods can feel pain and may be capable of suffering; and finally because, on balance, including cephalopods in the AWA would ensure their protection to a far greater extent than does the status quo.
Keywords: animal law, neuroscience and the law, animal welfare act, animal research
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