The growing loss of wildlife globally should unite countries in the same way the climate crisis demands global cooperation as animals, ecosystems, and economies are interconnected. Examining animal protection laws and practices internationally encourages collaboration among countries and helps strengthen legal protections.
Animal protection laws need a global focus, as issues like wildlife trafficking, migratory species protection, ocean and air pollution, and the international trade in animals for fur, meat, and other products are clear examples of issues that involve multiple nations.
Global Supply Chains and Animal Welfare
International trade involving animals is commonplace: New Zealand lamb meat is exported to Canadian grocers; Irish cheese retails in American stores; and Canadian horses are legally shipped alive on long journeys to Japan and eaten as a delicacy; Australia’s live sheep and cattle exports have been debated internationally for years, particularly exports to the Middle East.
Global supply chains can shift animal production to places with weaker welfare laws, while animal products travel easily through international markets. Industrial factory farming is a significant problem affecting millions of land animals and contributes to the climate crisis through greenhouse gas emissions, land use, feed production, and waste pollution resulting in biodiversity loss.
Justice and Compassion for Animals
Justice must extend beyond the human species, as safeguarding animals means safeguarding the planet, and that requires international cooperation grounded in compassion, science, and legal accountability. Justice must extend to vulnerable beings who cannot advocate for themselves, yet whose lives are inextricably bound to ours.
This is not a sentimental aspiration; it is a necessity. In an era of globalised trade, climate disaster, and biodiversity collapse, how humans treat animals has planetary consequences. The Rights of Nature movement and the One Health principle formally recognise that human, animal and environmental wellness are inseparable.
Indigenous cultures worldwide have long offered guidance for future sentience-based laws and stewardship of the natural world, having long recognised the interconnectedness of human and animal life. The fur industry offers a telling example, as Canada’s beavers once fuelled the beaver hat trade in the UK, a centuries-long enterprise that was wholly indifferent to animal welfare and ecological consequences and led to the near extinction of beavers in many Provinces.
Emerging Trends and Recognition of Animal Sentience
Consumers can drive change and fortunately, post COVID-19, a cultural shift is underway: fur is increasingly rejected as fashion’s reliance on it declines. Zoo animals illustrate global connectedness, as consider Lucy, an elderly elephant living in Edmonton, Alberta’s freezing climate.
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Born in Sri Lanka and sold to a Canadian zoo in the 1970s, she has spent decades in captivity in an environment far removed from her natural habitat. Today, we know far more about elephant intelligence and welfare. That knowledge must compel a shift in perspective: animals should not be treated as entertainers, props, or property, but as sentient individuals whose lives have intrinsic value.
In Canada, the controversial Marineland animal-based entertainment complex has been a subject of concern. Fortunately, Canada banned the capture and breeding of whales and dolphins in 2019, and animal advocates, including the Canadian Animal Law Study Group, have been pushing for legal services that prioritise animal welfare, such as sanctuaries rather than transfers of animals to new performing venues that would perpetuate heartbreaking captivity.
International Collaboration and the Future of Animal Law
Over the past quarter century, animal law has grown rapidly across academia, legislatures, and the courts. Many law schools worldwide now teach animal law; specialists are emerging; and litigation and legislative reforms aimed at strengthening animal protection are increasing around the world.
Thanks to social media and professional networks, the cross-pollination of ideas now occurs rapidly. Progress in one jurisdiction often sparks reform elsewhere. Canada’s recent ban on cosmetic testing was partly inspired by earlier UK and EU models. A longstanding model of international collaboration for the betterment of animals is the UK-based Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.
The Centre supports global scholarship in ethical and legal thought about animals, exploring questions such as: What moral, ethical, and legal status should animals have? What duties do humans owe them? How should legal systems reflect those duties? Each summer, the Centre hosts the Oxford Animal Ethics Summer School, bringing together international scholars to explore interdisciplinary themes of inquiry.
In a world where animals, ecosystems, and economies are interconnected, global dialogue about law is no longer optional, it is essential. The animal laws created today will determine whether future generations inherit a planet where animals are exploited resources or properly recognised as sentient beings with intrinsic worth and with whom we share the Earth.
Countries must stand united in the face of the all-consuming climate crisis. Climate change threatens all species – human and non-human. Rising temperatures, disrupted rainfall, and extreme weather events have altered ecosystems beyond recognition. We are witnessing a sixth mass extinction, with over one million species at risk.
Industry resistance to animal and environmental safeguards will be inevitable, but governments must prioritise One Health and sentience principles. Further change is inevitable. Our collective survival and the future of animal, human, and environmental protection depends on cross-border cooperation, which can be facilitated by alternative dispute resolution methods that promote mutual understanding and respect for the natural world.