Managing Our Relationship with Free-Roaming Cats in Zoopoland

Bibliographic Data

ID12418689
AuthorsJoan E Schaffner (The George Washington University Law School https://dx.doi.org/8367 Washington D.C. U.S.A., corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume30
Issue7
Pages742-760
Publication date2022-10-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociety and Animals (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1063-1119 • E-ISSN: 1568-5306
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/15685306-bja10099
OpenAlexW4301373322
LanguageEN
References cited14

Debate over the proper management of our relationship with free-roaming cats has escalated based on concerns over impacts on biodiversity and public health, with some calling for their eradication. It is often waged between animalists, primarily focused on the interests of the individual animal, and traditional conservationists, primarily focused on preserving native species and biodiversity. An ethical paradigm that accounts for the interests of all animals and nature to develop a management scheme that promotes interspecies justice is needed. I propose the political theory of animal rights developed in Zoopolis as a fruitful ethical paradigm. Grounded in modern citizenship theory, it defines universal negative rights due to all sentient beings and positive rights due to them based on our relationships to them as citizens, denizens, or foreigners. Application of this political theory in a modern fictional jurisdiction, Zoopoland , is explored to develop a just management strategy for free-roaming cats

Animal rights · Biodiversity · Biology · Citizenship · Economic Justice · Environmental ethics · Jurisdiction · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Roaming · Sociology · Computer Science · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Law · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Ecology

Tools

Open DOI