MSU Law Professor Champions International Advocacy on Animal Welfare
Highly regarded for his passion and expertise on animal rights, sought-after speaker MSU Law Professor David Favre recently advocated for international collaboration on the escalating threats to animal welfare during conferences in Toronto and Rome. Professor Favre continued his more than 40 plus year commitment to promote animal welfare through: Increased education and awareness via speaking engagements worldwide; outspoken activism for enforceable legal strategies on an international scale; and numerous written works including authoring his recent book, “The Future of Animal Law.”
The Nancy Heathcote Professor of Property and Animal Law, Professor Favre took his message to Toronto, Canada, where he presented “A New Proposal for a Treaty on Animal Well-being” at the Canadian Animal Law Conference. The Fifth Annual Conference, sponsored by Animal Justice and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, brought together leaders in the animal law movement to collaborate on building a better legal system for animals.
Urging support for an international treaty, Professor Favre said that “global issues demand global solutions. The international community has prioritized climate change, food production, and pandemic prevention. That priority list should be expanded to include respect for all of the world’s beings and creation of agencies and budgets focused on animal issues.” Professor Favre urged drafting of four protocols: 1. For Companion Animals; 2. For Care for Exhibited Wildlife; 3. For the Taking of Wildlife; and 4. For the International Transportation of Animals.
Professor Favre was asked to speak to the 67th Congress of the UIA (International Association of Lawyers) in Rome. The two main themes of the UIA conference were “Freedom of Movement, Migration and Human Rights” and “Food, Environment and Energy Challenges.” He delivered two powerful presentations to an audience of lawyers from around the world, “Overview of International Illegal Trade of Wildlife” and “The Battle of the Labels for Animal Welfare in Meat and Dairy Products in the United States.”
In the first presentation, Professor Favre discussed various aspects of an international law and posed numerous questions about challenges to reaching a consensus on a global policy such as sovereignty, an effective enforcement process, and whether animal welfare was a legally sufficient motivation for interfering with free trade. He also stressed the significance of the one health view of the world; how intertwined we are, human health, animal health, and environmental health.
Professor Favre also gave a compelling presentation on controlling speech during an in-depth examination of labeling and promotion of meat and dairy products. He cited legal cases on misrepresentation of the sources of products, relevant animal welfare and health issues, ingredients and nutritional value, photographs, etc. He posed questions like “Does organic mean good welfare for animals?” and “How do we know if industry is telling the truth?”.
The UIA is a global and multi-cultural organization for the legal profession. The organization’s website states that it was created in 1927 and its membership comes from 110 countries. “Today, the UIA reaches around two million lawyers through its individual and collective members (bar associations, lawyers’ federations, and organisations) worldwide.”