Skip to Main Content

Cornell Library at Vermont Law & Graduate School

Animal Law Research: Start Your Research Here

Begin Research Here

This Research Guide owes its existence and much of its excellent content to Research Assistant Andrea McMillan, VLGS '24.

Starting your animal law research depends largely on the species of animal, industry, or jurisdiction you’re working in. Research in animal  law is rarely restricted to a single topic. Finding related material is often necessary. Starting broad is a good idea at the beginning of your research. But the sooner you can narrow your search terms, the more quickly you’ll be begin to find meaningful sources related to your topic.

Some suggested search terms are noted below. Synonyms are also helpful.

  • Animal welfare
  • Animal rights
  • Animal law
  • Animal ... combined with additional terms that reflect issues such as justice, agriculture, cruelty, cruelty-free, etc. 
  • CAFOs
  • Companion animals
  • Endangered species
  • Farmed/Farm Animals
  • Specific animals. For example: livestock or cattle or cow or calf
  • Wildlife
  • Names of specific laws such as the Animal Welfare Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Lacey Act, etc. 

Secondary Sources: Always a  good place for finding search terms.  Once you find a book of interest in a library catalog, make note of the Subjects listed for the book to assist you in identifying related search terms. Use these search terms to identify even more resources!

You may also wish to consult a Glossary of Terms such as: Elevated Vegan Health - Glossary of Animal RightsTerms

You may wish to move on to the Statutes, Regulations, Case Law, or State Resources sections. etc. of this Guide, but consulting books, articles, and web sites will provide background information and context. See below:

Books/Articles

In addition to books accessible through Julian, and the resources on Westlaw and Lexis, other secondary sources should be used,  including the following databases:  Animal Studies: Law, Welfare and Rights in HeinOnline,  Environment Complete, JSTOR,  EBook Central,  GreenWire,  Agricultural & Environmental Science Collection, Gale OneFile Agriculture.

These and additional resources are listed in the Databases section of this Guide.

Web Sites

For locating relevant free web sites the use of a resource that focuses on carefully selected web sites organized by topic is recommended.

One such source, listed by topic in the Web Sites / ELRS section of this Guide, is the Vermont Law  and Graduate School Library’s  Environmental Law Research Sources.  This is a collection of more than 500 websites with descriptions, selected in consultation with Vermont Law and Graduate School faculty, students and alumni.  Topics include: Animal Law,  Endangered Species/Wildlife Biodiversity, Oceans/Marine Law, Agriculture Law, Science Sources, Environmental Justice, Climate Change, Land Use, Environmental Dispute Resolution, Water Law and Policy, International Environmental Law, etc.

Library Homepage