Summary:
This paper examines the laws pertaining to zoo animals on the international, federal, and state level, along with voluntary standards, not mandated by law. On the international level there are only regulations which apply to the trade of the species between international countries, limiting how many can be imported and exported and how they are transported. On the federal level, those laws most important to zoo animals are the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act. The AWA sets minimum standards for the care, handling, housing, and transport of animals exhibited in zoos. The ESA applies to those animals listed as threatened or endangered, but even then exhibition alone will never constitute a violation. State laws consist of anti-cruelty statutes that come into force only after a violation has occurred. Voluntary associations such as the American Zoo Association set higher standards of care for their members, in some instances, than the minimum standards set forth in the Animal Welfare Act. Using the elephant as a case study, this paper exposes the inadequacies of our existing laws, which have resulted in unfortunate incidents nationwide. It also exposes the underground trade of surplus zoo animals, which continues because of the lacking enforcement of current laws.
This paper examines the laws pertaining to zoo animals on the international, federal, and state level, along with voluntary standards, not mandated by law. On the international level there are only regulations which apply to the trade of the species between international countries, limiting how many can be imported and exported and how they are transported. On the federal level, those laws most important to zoo animals are the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act. The AWA sets minimum standards for the care, handling, housing, and transport of animals exhibited in zoos. The ESA applies to those animals listed as threatened or endangered, but even then exhibition alone will never constitute a violation. State laws consist of anti-cruelty statutes that come into force only after a violation has occurred. Voluntary associations such as the American Zoo Association set higher standards of care for their members, in some instances, than the minimum standards set forth in the Animal Welfare Act. Using the elephant as a case study, this paper exposes the inadequacies of our existing laws, which have resulted in unfortunate incidents nationwide. It also exposes the underground trade of surplus zoo animals, which continues because of the lacking enforcement of current laws.
