Reimagining Animal Welfare Through a Socio-legal Lens: From Compassion to Constitutional Consciousness
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper reconceptualizes animal welfare as an element of constitutional morality, environmental justice, and sustainable development. Drawing upon Indian constitutional duties, comparative legislation in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the emerging jurisprudence on the rights of nature, it advances a socio-legal account that treats animals as rights-bearing subjects whose interests are intertwined with human well-being and ecological balance. The analysis traces the evolution from welfare-based protection to rights-inflected approaches, examines challenges arising from industrial agriculture, cultural practice, and regulatory fragmentation, and argues for a principled transition from ownership to guardianship. It concludes with actionable recommendations for constitutional reform, humane agriculture, and institutional design to embed compassion within enforceable legal structures.
Author: Dr. Swati Rautela
Language: English
Topic: Animal Law and Welfare
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7116098332