On this episode of Animal Amicus, hosts Senior Policy Program Manager Nicole Pallotta and Managing Attorney David Rosengard discuss how states define “animal,” the legal implications for animals categorized as wildlife, companion animal, livestock, scientific experiment, or “vermin,” and the resulting instability.   
Resources referenced in this episode along with additional relevant articles are listed below:   

Animal Legal Defense Fund: Animal Cruelty Charges Dropped Because Fish Are Not “Animals” Under North Carolina Law by Nicole Pallotta  

Animal Legal & Historical Center: North Carolina General Statutes § 14-360  

Hakai Magazine: Fish Feel Pain. Now What? by Ferris Jabr  

Compassion in World Farming: Why Fish Welfare Matters: The Evidence for Fish Sentience  

Animal Legal & Historical Center: New Mexico Statutes Annotated § 30-18-1  

Animal Legal & Historical Center: Utah Code Annotated § 76-9-301  



Animal Legal Defense Fund: Friend or Food? Companion Pigs Challenge Legal Distinctions by Nicole Pallotta  

Sports Illustrated Vault: The Lost Pets that Stray to the Labs by Coles Phinizy  

BARk: The Dog Who Sparked an Animal Rights Movement by JoAnna Lou  

Animal Legal Defense Fund: Animals Used in Research  

Nebraska Law Review: The Animal Welfare Act at Fifty: Problems and Possibilities in Animal Testing Regulation by Courtney G. Lee  

Institute for Laboratory Animal Research: Gaps in US Animal Welfare for Laboratory Animals: Perspectives from an Animal Law Attorney by Pamela Frasch  

Animal Legal & Historical Center: Detailed Discussion of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act by Cynthia F. Hodges  

Vox: The “Humanewashing” of America’s Meat and Dairy, Explained by Jessica Scott-Reid  

National Library of Medicine: Are They Buying It? United States Consumers’ Changing Attitudes toward More Humanely Raised Meat, Eggs, and Dairy  

Animal Welfare Institute: A Consumer’s Guide to Food Labels and Animal Welfare  

Animal Welfare Institute: Legal Protections for Animals on Farms  

Frontiers: Nonhuman and Nonhuman-Human Communication: Some Issues and Questions  

Science in the News: River Dolphins Have a Surprisingly Large Vocabulary  

The Washington Post: Coyote-killing Contests Face Growing Outrage, State Bans  

Outdoor Life: Coyote Hunting Contests Would Be Banned on Federal Land if Congress Passes the Bill It Introduced This Week  

Animal Legal & Historical Center: Texas Penal Code § 42.092  

Animal Legal Defense Fund: Fighting to Bring Kristen Lindsey to Justice  

American Veterinary Medical Association: AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals  

Public News Service: Lobster and Crab Cruelty in Maine? by Mark Scheerer  

Animal Legal Defense Fund: Switzerland Bans Practice of Boiling Lobsters Alive Without Stunning First by Nicole Pallotta