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Shark finning is amongst the most wasteful and cruel exploitation of animals currently practiced in the world today. The decimation of shark populations threatens the fragile balance of the oceans’ ecosystems and ultimately threatens the human population as well. This Article addresses the economic and cultural reasons for the continued practice and demand for shark finning. Many protections for sharks have been attempted, but nearly all fail due to inadequate restrictions and enforcement. Various international treaties and conventions have to some degree addressed the issue, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the Convention on Migratory Species, among others. A leader on the issue, the United States has made several statutory and regulatory efforts to prohibit shark finning. Other countries also have enacted protections. However, due to lack of enforcement, lack of resources, and the presence of legal loopholes, shark finning continues on a wide scale. This Article examines weaknesses in the current attempts at protective measures and explores new ideas for the protection of sharks. 

A national animal abuser registry has the potential to provide law enforcement agencies with a much-needed tool for tracking animal abusers, but no such registry exists. This Comment first discusses existing state and federal criminal registries for sex offenders, child abusers, and elder abusers. It determines that existing criminal registries often contain inaccurate entries and that they have little deterrent effect, making their potential infringement on offenders’ Constitutional rights and other collateral consequences difficult to justify.  

This Comment then turns to the viability of a national animal abuse registry, discussing the link between the abuse of animals and violence towards other humans. Although no state or national animal abuse registries currently exist, several states have tried to pass legislation that would create such registries. In the absence of state-run registries, independent animal interest groups have formed registries of their own. This Comment explores the inherent drawbacks of volunteer-run, financially unaccountable organizations promulgating information about animal abusers. It then concludes that government funding and staffing could fix the accountability gaps that exist with the registries developed by private organizations and proposes a framework for a national animal abuse registry.

Despite the increased availability of alternatives to the animal test model, laws and policies continue to be used as shields to justify the scientific use of animals in jurisdictions across the world. This article examines the legislative framework for animal research in Australia with a specific focus on the state of New South Wales. It also examines emerging international principles for the use of animals in scientific research.

This article provides three different perspectives on the origins of the Animal Law Review based at Lewis & Clark School of Law.

This is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It is a mixture of articles, humor, poems and information, not unlike the Reader's Digest format of today. It is reflective of a softer, gentler era.

In this Introduction to Volume 14, Issue 2 of Animal Law, the author reflects on the 72nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, an annual professional gathering for wildlife management professionals (mostly government wildlife managers).

This overview examines the changes to state animal laws in 2008 as well as the animal-related ballot proposals that appeared in the November election.