Includes bibliographical references (p.185-189) and index.

Animal welfare advocates take a cruelty case to the Supreme Court. Case overview: Primate Protection League v. Tulane Educational Fund (1991) -- Unanimous opinion : animal welfare advocates have the right to sue in the court of their choice / Thurgood Marshall -- Animal welfare advocates lack standing to take animal mistreatment issues to court / Kenneth Starr -- Courts should view animals as more than mere personal property / Lauren Magnotti -- The research done on the Silver Spring monkeys led to an important discovery / Denyse O'Leary -- Animals cannot be names as plaintiffs in lawsuits. Case overview: Cetacean Community v. George W. Bush (2004) -- The court's opinion : animals do not have standing to bring suit / William A. Fletcher -- The Cetacean ruling opens the door to other suits by animals / John F. Tamburo -- Congress does not have authority to give animals the right to sue / Matthew Armstrong -- Cetacean exemplifies the difficulty of suing for harm to nature / W. Earl Webster -- Human plaintiffs can act as proxies for animals in lawsuits / Harvard Law Review --

Routine farming practices are subject to anticruelty regulations. Case overview: New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals et al. v. New Jersey Department of Agriculture -- The court's opinion : anticruelty regulations cannot exempt agricultural practices on grounds that they are routine / Helen Hoens -- Many agricultural practices are cruel to animals and should be banned / Erin M. Tobin and Katherine A. Meyer -- Support for humane treatment of farm animals is growing / Kim Severson -- Farmers and veterinarians believe current farm practices are humane / Neil D. Hamilton -- National defense has priority over the welfare of animals. Case overview: Winter, Secretary of the Navy v. Natural Resources Defense Council (2008) -- Majority opinion : the need to conduct naval training exercises outweighs protection of marine mammals / John Roberts -- Dissenting opinion : defense considerations do not authorize the Navy to violate the law / Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- The court seemed closely divided in Winter v. NRDC / Scott Dodd -- Environmental laws should not be allowed to thwart defense preparedness / David Stirling -- The U.S. legal system is ill equipped to protect the natural world / Mary Munson -- Winter could alter the balance between environmental concerns and the national defense / Jeremy Rabkin.

Examines how the courts have helped to shape the issue of animal welfare.