The Spectator

Barometer | 25 February 2012

issue 25 February 2012

Animals in court

A group of US scientists has demanded that a Declaration of Cetacean Rights be incorporated into law. There have been animal welfare laws since at least 1635, when an Irish statute prohibited pulling wool off a live sheep. But no country has yet gone as far as to grant animals rights, in spite of several legal challenges.

— A US court threw out a case in 2011 brought by pressure group Peta, which argued five orcas were illegally enslaved.
— In 2009 the Israeli Knesset rejected an attempt by an MP to rename an Animal Welfare Bill the Animal Rights Bill.
— The Spanish parliament’s environment committee recommended in 2008 that primates be granted limited rights, but the suggestion has not been taken up.

Working models

Tesco was the subject of protests against an unpaid work placement scheme run in conjunction with the Department for Work and Pensions.

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