We know animals are sentient. What does that mean for their legal status?

Anyone who has seen the unbridled joy of a dog or the derisive indifference of a cat knows that animals are sentient: they have the capacity to experience both positive and negative emotions. Scientific studies have confirmed the vast majority of animals are sentient, and more species are added to that list on a regular basis. However, the law has been slow to recognise the sentience of animals. New Zealand, which recognised that animals are sentient in 2015, is one of only a handful of countries to do so.

In this talk, Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere will explain why the law has such difficulty in recognising what both laypersons and scientists know to be common sense, and the profound implications if we were to really take animals’ capacity for emotive experiences seriously.

Bio

Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere joined the Auckland Law School as an associate professor in 2024, after working for more than a decade at the University of Otago. He has also practised as a solicitor for Chapman Tripp and was a judges' clerk at the High Court of New Zealand. He specialises in the legal regulation of the relationship between non-human animals and humans and administrative law.

Event

8:00pm @Norma Taps, 90 Wellesley Street West, Auckland Central, Auckland 1010

Also speaking at this location at 6:00pm is Sophie Tomlinson