Image Legislation, cases, publications, ... THE DATA TO MAKE YOUR CASE Image Working together to replicate ... ... law that does more than just protect from cruelty Two things: Firstly, this section is to help you develop your own understanding and strengths advocating for positive animal welfare law for the sentient animal. Secondly, please send-and-add your own resources and help others do the same. With a law reform in mind, you can help by .... ... forwarding resources that are relevant to the subject of animal sentience, and positive animal welfare. This includes, for example, case law, legislation, research papers, and selected education courses that might educate, inform and assist others on topics that are relevant to our Vision and Mission. If you're involved in - or aware of - initiatives that use technologies, apply new animal-related practices, or otherwise provide credible, verifiable and relevant material proving that positive animal welfare "works" (e.g is needed, profitable, tangibly beneficial) then do let us know. Law, and law reform, hinges on facts and evidence. Below you'll find links to, and copies of, publications, submissions to public consultations, and other resources that you can reference and adapt. Future plans are to develop a database of experts, materials, and evidence. So check back often and do please send us your ideas for further development. Although these things take time, it's probably stating the obvious that we achieve the outcomes faster when working together. (In addition to working together to build the resources together, take a look at the "Join us" page on this website for additional ways we can work together to give them a life enjoyed). Key Terms Your quick reference guide: Duty of care A duty of care is a legal obligation which is imposed on an individual requiring adherence to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably cause harm to another individual including, for example, their rights, their liberties or their property (e.g. animals). Typically animal laws apply a broad net of responsibility to people regarding interactions that affect the wellbeing of animals. Those responsibilities include, but are not limited to, owners or persons in charge of animals. The duty of care requires compliance with legally prescribed standards associated with acts or omissions that impact an animal’s welfare. Five Domains: the scientific authority validating "positive states" Contemporary science validating that in addition to experiencing negative [physical, mental, emotional] states (i.e. pain, distress, suffering), animals also experience positive states (e.g. comfort, interest, pleasure). The Five Domains model refers to four physical/functional domains of "nutrition", "environment", "physical health" and "behaviour", and the fifth domain is the animal's "mental" state. "Extending the ‘Five Domains’ model for animal welfare assessment to incorporate positive welfare states Mellor* and NJ Beausoleil, Animal Welfare 2015, 24: 241-253ISSN 0962-7286doi: 10.7120/09627286.24.3.241 Five Freedoms Now over half a century old, the “scientific knowledge” and principles of the Five Freedoms contained within the Brambell Report (1965) outline five aspects of animal welfare under human control. They advocate that an animal should be provided for in such a way that it experiences freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury or disease, freedom to express natural behaviour, and freedom from fear and distress. For the purposes of distinguishing the Five Freedoms from the Five Domains, it is helpful to note that the Five Freedoms all reference freedom from negative states. Negative states Negative states commonly referred to in anti-cruelty law include pain, distress, and suffering. These states are the consistent focus of animal protection/anti-cruelty law. Positive animal welfare The concept and terminology of “positive animal welfare” arose following the recognition in debates and assessments that “animal welfare” focused too much on avoiding negatives. The term "positive animal welfare" emphasises the welfare relevance of providing animals with opportunities to have positive experiences, in addition to minimising negative ones. The phrase "less pain is not the same as more pleasure” often helps to identify the difference between anti-cruelty and positive animal welfare. Positive animal welfare law ("PAWL") Positive animal welfare is terminology utilised and engaged by those involved in animal-related organisations (government, non-government organisations, industry, research, academia) however it is put into practice by a comparative minority. The Sentient Animal Law Foundation utilises the unique features of law toward ensuring that all people in charge of animals have a legal duty of care that is not restricted simply to protecting animals from cruelty, but also requires providing animals in their care with opportunities to experience positive states such as comfort, interest, pleasure. Positive states Positive states include, for example, experiences of comfort, interest and pleasure. Reference: "Extending the ‘Five Domains’ model for animal welfare assessment to incorporate positive welfare states Mellor* and NJ Beausoleil, Animal Welfare 2015, 24: 241-253ISSN 0962-7286doi: 10.7120/09627286.24.3.241 Sentience The ability of a living being “to feel and/or experience”. SAL papers and submissions and ... Starting Points We've published, forwarded submissions, and presented widely on the subject of animal sentience and positive animal welfare law. Listed below are some of our selected picks chosen because they cover the key terms, concepts and issues relevant to the law reform advocated by SAL. Published Papers: Recognising and Defining Animal Sentience in Legislation: A Framework for Importing Positive Animal Welfare Through the Five Domains Model’ (2022) 48(1) Monash University Law Review (forthcoming). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3910864Will Victoria (Australia) miss the Sentience Doorway and have a 2021 Animal Law Reform that is outdated even before it is enacted? https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3861352Sentience in the Animal Welfare Act, "To feel or not to feel; that is the legal question", The New Zealand Law Journal Feb 2017 [Copy available upon request] Submissions To Public Consultations & Government Committees Appearance in front of the New South Wales Standing Committee on State Development giving evidence at a hearing for the inquiry into Animal Welfare Policy in NSW (Australia) [2022]. A copy of the Opening Statement of the Sentient Animal Law Foundation is available upon request.Submissions to New South Wales (Australia) public consultation on proposed animal law reforms [Copy available upon request] [2021]Submissions to Queensland (Australia) public consultation on proposed animal law reforms [Copy available upon request] [2021]Submissions to Brexit public consultation on the Sentient Animal Law Bill [Copy available upon request][2021]Submissions to Victoria (Australia) public consultation on proposed animal law reforms [Copy available upon request] [2020] Presentations: Animal Welfare Law and the Sentient Animal: From Legislative Recognition to Definition - https://lawnewsroom.deakin.edu.au/articles/animal-welfare-law-and-the-sentient-animal-from-legislative-recognition-to-definitionA view of law's “sentient” animal through the legal lens - Multistakeholder interactive government workshop - https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/30191/direct - https://www.mpi.govt.nz/animals/animal-welfare/national-animal-welfare-advisory-committee/animal-sentience-2017-workshop-speaker-videos/ Books Animals, Welfare and the Law -Fundamental Principles for Critical Assessment - https://www.routledge.com/Animals-Welfare-and-the-Law-Fundamental-Principles-for-Critical-Assessment/Robertson/p/book/9780415535632 The second edition of "Animals, Welare and the Law - Fundamental Principles Governing Sentient Animals" is scheduled for publication in 2022. As a Foundation,... ...we have a commitment to education, lobbying and collaborative assistance with organisations whose objectives are aligned with the concept of a legislative definition of sentience that creates positive animal welfare law, thereby making it “the law” to give animals a life enjoyed, not just endured. And we are always wanting to trumpet the SAL message. So, if you've got a conference, webinar, professional development program, board meeting, multistakeholder event, summit, convention or similar where the subject of a legal reform that turns positive animal welfare into law might fit as a topic, then we'd love to participate if we can. GET IN TOUCH The Sentient Animal Law Foundation