10 Animal Protection Laws That Benefit and Support Animal Welfare

Animal cruelty is a serious issue affecting millions of innocent animals globally. Fortunately, there are many different animal protection laws that can help prevent and end this types of abuse. By educating yourself on animal protection laws and promoting and supporting them, you can be an agent of change that is helping to protect animals. In this article, we will provide you with ten different animal cruelty laws that you can support and promote to protect the animals' health and welfare. 

 

1.       The Animal Welfare Act

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is law in the US that regulates the conditions and treatment of animals being used for research experiments, for exhibition (as in zoos and aquariums), through transport (animals travelling long distance, aka travelling by air to exhibitions), and for commerce (animals traded, sold and bought). The enforcement of the AWA can be improved by pushing for stronger enforcement and asking to strengthen the law. The AWA has been amended and strengthened multiple times since it was passed and into law. The most recently amendment happened in 2019, when the law banned animal fighting in US territories.

2.       The Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a crucial law that protects threatened animals and their environments from being exterminated. Enforcing stronger protections under the ESA protects entire ecosystems and allows for animals to survive. The bald eagle was nearly extinct in the 1950s due to its environment being destroyed, poaching, and the continued use of the pesticide DDT. Thanks to the ESA, the banning of DDT, and grassroots movements to save them, bald eagles were able to recover and were subsequently delisted from the endangered list in 2007.

                                          

3.       The Humane Slaughter Act

The Humane Slaughter Act is a U.S. law states that livestock cannot be harmed prior to slaughter and appropriate pre-processing. Supporting strong enforcement of this law, and encouraging the industry to adopt stronger practices, will benefit the treatment of animals through the entire life cycle. However, many advocates believe there is not such thing as humane slaughter, and it important there are current efforts to continue to change this.

4. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is present in every jurisdiction. The act makes it a crime to commit cruelty, neglect or abuse of animals. Supporting strong enforcement of this act is another way you help bring abusers to justice, and stop the suffering of animals. The importance of this act is evident in live-case prosecutions, and this act has been integral in the prosecution of abusers.

5.       The Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act

The Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act is a federal law in the US prohibits promoting, organizing, or engaging in animal fighting and is a felony. The inhumane and brutal nature of these fights, as well as the creation of a culture that supports greater penalty, help dissuades engagement in animal fights. Perhaps the most well-known case was that of NFL player Michael Vick and the host of publicity from his 2007 dog fighting case that led to further activism by the ASPCA and rescue organizations.

6.       The Marine Mammal Protection Act

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibits any disturbance, injury, or hunting of Marine Mammals. When this and any related programs are maintained, it protects the whales, dolphins, seals, and other marine mammals and their particularly fragile environment.

7.       The Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Act

The Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Act in the UK explicitly recognizes that animals are live beings that have the ability to sense. This also raises the maximum amounts of punishment for acts of cruelty. It is important to support a law like this throughout the world so that animals are regarded as sentient beings and provided with better care and protection.

8.       The Captive Primate Safety Act

The Captive Primate Safety Act prohibits the sale and interstate movement of primates as pets. By keeping this law in place we are ensuring that intelligent beings are not used and abused. This is an important beginning to ensuring that primates are safe from a loving environment suffocated by their ignorance.

9.       The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act protects animal-gathering industries from violent acts. Creating laws like this helps protect legitimate businesses while allowing people to protest and advocate for animal rights from a safe distance. We can continue to perpetuate these kinds of protections, and allow diversity of activism.

10.   The Wildlife Protection Act

The Wildlife Protection Act is an Indian law that protects the wild animal population, including endangered animals, and controls international wildlife trade. Supporting this and other laws in other areas of the world can help reduce poaching, smuggling, and habitat destruction, and create a vibrant ecosystem that the planet's inhabitants can enjoy for generations to come.

 

Publishing and supporting these laws will protect animals. You can help by advocating for legislation, educating others on animal rights, and donating to organizations that help animals. Together we can build a world where concern and respect for animals is the norm.

Visit onegreenplanet.org and download the Food Monster App !