The gathering momentum for animal rights

Abstract

The focus of this article is to track the progress that has been made on behalf of
animals within the legal institutions of the United States. While there is an obvious focus on
the adoption of new laws, there are many steps or changes that are necessary within broader
legal intuitions if substantial progress is to be made in the changing and enforcing of the
laws. For example, at the same time that legislatures must be convinced of the need for
change, so must the judges believe in the new laws, otherwise enforcement of the law will be
not forthcoming.
Besides the court and the legislature, legal institutions include law schools, legal publications,
and the various associations of lawyers and law professors. What is the visibility and
credibility of animal issues within these institutions? Without progress within all aspects of
the legal community, success on behalf of animals is not possible. We in the United States
have made progress, particularly in the past ten years, but we have much yet that needs to be
done. By charting the progress and lack of progress in the United States, the readers in
Brazil and other countries will have some landmarks by which to judge the progress of the
issue of animal rights/welfare within their own country.