Wildlife as Property Owners: A New Conception of Animal Rights
Date of Event
3-1-2021
Description
Sponsor: Coleman Burke Center for Environmental Law
Event Description Humankind coexists with every other living thing. People drink the same water, breathe the same air, and share the same land as other animals. Yet, property law reflects a general assumption that only people can own land. The effects of this presumption are disastrous for wildlife and humans alike. The alarm bells ringing about biodiversity loss are growing louder, and the possibility of mass extinction is real. Anthropocentric property is a key driver of biodiversity loss, a silent killer of species worldwide. But as law and sustainability scholar Karen Bradshaw shows, if excluding animals from a legal right to own land is causing their destruction, extending the legal right to own property to wildlife may prove its salvation. Wildlife as Property Owners advocates for folding animals into our existing system of property law, giving them the opportunity to own land just as humans do—to the betterment of all.
Lecture Series
Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law
Subject Headings
animal rights; wildlife as property owners; environmental law; property rights of animals
Location
CWRU Law Virtual Event
Document Type
Video
Recommended Citation
Bradshaw, Karen and Doremus, Holly, "Wildlife as Property Owners: A New Conception of Animal Rights" (2021). Conferences and Symposia. 666.
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/law_videos_general/666