The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
Wildlife as Property Owners Webinar
An examination of how reconceiving animal rights might aid wildlife conservation
On Monday afternoon, I will be moderating a webinar on Wildlife as Property Owners: A New Conception of Animal Rights by ASU law professor Karen Bradshaw. The webinar will focus on Prof. Bradshaw's book of that title and feature commentary by Professor Holly Doremus of the University of California at Berkeley. The webinar is sponsored by the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Here's a description of the event:
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.
Registration and CLE information is here.
