An introduction to the more recent literature in English and Dutch

As several volumes in the series 'Animals in Philosophy and Science' amply demonstrate, the Netherlands are blessed with many prolific authors in the fields of ethology, animal welfare, human-animal relationships and animals and ethics. They publish in English as well as in Dutch, and their writings are easily accessible. In the field of animal law the situation is different, even though the Netherlands has been a member state of the European Community since the very beginning. Dutch authors seem to prefer their native language, and other-language authors apparently don't take the situation in the Netherlands for a subject.

Four relevant English-language articles were retrieved in an admittedly non-exhaustive bibliographical search. Brom focuses on the concept of intrinsic value; Van Calster explores what little room is left to EC member states for applying unilateral animal welfare legislation, analyzing European case-law to support his conclusions. The essay by De Bordes gives us a historical outline, culminating in a critical analysis of the present state of affairs. "The lives of animals in the European Union" is a short introduction to the subject, written on the eve of the national referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.

Frans W.A. Brom, The use of 'intrinsic value of animals' in the Netherlands, in: Recognizing the Intrinsic Value of Animals, M. Dol et al. (eds.), Assen: Van Gorcum, 1999 (Animals in Philosophy and Science [vol. 2]), p. 15-28.

Geert van Calster, Animal welfare, the EU and the World Trade Organization: Member states' sovereignty between a rock and a hard place?, in: The WTO and concerns regarding animals and nature, Anton Vedder (ed.), Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2003, p. 61-85.

E.C. de Bordes, Animal protection legislation in the Netherlands: past and present, in: The human-animal relationship: Forever and a day, Francien de Jonge, Ruud van den Bos (eds.), Assen: Royal Van Gorcum, 2005, (Animals in Philosophy and Science [vol. 4]), p. 200-214.

E.C. de Bordes and E. Evertsen, The lives of animals in the European Union, in: Merkourios 22 (2005), nr. 60, p. 4-11.

This last title can be found on this website.

For readers well versed in Dutch, I have added a few titles of interest.

The dissertation of Dirk Boon, pioneer in the field and the first professor to teach animal law at Utrecht University, offers a survey of the history and the effectiveness of Dutch animal law ('Nederlands dierenrecht') up to 1983.

Dirk Boon, Nederlands dierenrecht, Arnhem: Gouda Quint, 1983.

A detailed and attractively illustrated book on the general history of human-animal relationships in the Netherlands, with a good deal of attention paid to legislative developments, is

Karel Davids, Dieren en Nederlanders: zeven eeuwen lief en leed (Animals and the Dutch: seven centuries for better or for worse), Utrecht: Matrijs, 1989.

Davids also published several articles on this theme, one of which serves as a short introduction:

K. Davids, Dierenbescherming in Nederland vanaf 1864 (Protection of animals in the Netherlands since 1864), Justitiële Verkenningen 2001 (27), nr. 5, p. 10-22.

Dubbink has chosen the legislative process resulting in the Animal Health and Welfare Act (AHWA) to illustrate his theory on the changing role of government officials and the role NGO's have come to play in the development of legislation in Holland. According to Dubbink, 'rule by bargaining' has prevailed over 'rule by discussion', leaving all (human) participants unsatisfied.

Wim Dubbink, Dieren, dienders en democratie: De Gezondheids- en Welzijnswet voor Dieren en het probleem van de bureaucratie (Animals, cops, democracy: the AHWA and the problem of bureaucracy), Tijdschrift voor empirische filosofie 1998, p. 312-338.

De Jonge and Spruijt are better known for their work on animal welfare, but they take a critical stand on Dutch (and European) animal welfare law in

F.H. de Jonge en B.M. Spruijt, Kennis over dierenwelzijn: toepassing in recht en regelgeving (Scientific understanding of animal welfare as applied in legislation), Justitiële Verkenningen 2001 (27), nr. 5, p. 55-66.

A recent summary of law relating to laboratory animals can be found in

P.C.M. de Greeve en W.A. de Leeuw, Wettelijke aspecten van dierproeven (Legal aspects of animal experimentation), in: Handboek Proefdierkunde: Proefdieren, dierproeven, alternatieven en ethiek, L.F.M. van Zutphen, V. Baumans en A.C. Beynen (red.), Maarssen: Elsevier gezondheidszorg 2002, p. 27-36.

Two recent books, finally, focus on the enforcement ('handhaving') of, respectively the case-law ('jurisprudentie') generated by the pertinent laws:

E.C. de Bordes en E. Evertsen, Handhaving Wetgeving dierenwelzijn, Den Haag: Sdu Uitgevers, 2003, and

E.C. de Bordes en E. Evertsen, Jurisprudentie Wetgeving dierenwelzijn, Den Haag: Sdu Uitgevers, 2004.

A complete bibliography of pertinent Dutch-language publications, including those on wild animals, would be considerably longer. Readers wishing to know more can contact redactie@lawandroar.nl.

Sources consulted: Animal Law (Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon) vol. 1 (1995) - 10 (2004); Humans & Other Species (formerly InterActions of Man & Animals, a bibliography edited and published by David C. Anderson, ISSN 1093-8915), vol. 1 (1990) - 10 (1999); Index to legal books and periodicals; NCC (Dutch National catalogue); Online Contents (the Dutch index to periodicals); Bobbi Ann Weaver, Research in the Peaceable Kingdom: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography on Animal Law from an International Perspective, International Journal of Legal Information 30 (2002) 3, p. 426-453; own collection; publications cited.