ANIMAL LAW WEBSITE OF THE MONTH (August 2003)

Centre for the Expansion of Fundamental Rights
http://www.cefr.org

By Amie Wolken

The Centre for the Expansion of Fundamental Rights (CEFR) is a new group whose mandate is to “expand fundamental rights… to non-human animals, beginning with chimpanzees and bonobos, through litigation and education.” The Centre boasts three heavy hitting directors: lawyers Steven and Debbie Wise and Chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall.

Unfortunately, at the moment, the group’s website is hardly worth visiting. It currently consists mainly of advertising for books written by Steven Wise and links to other related websites such as the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. On the plus side, there are downloads available of Steven’s presentation’s and seminar scripts.

While this website does not provide a lot of factual information on animals and the law, it does provide a good introduction to Wise’s important works entitled: Rattling the Cage and Drawing the Line, which both focus on the fact that the law has criteria for personhood, and by studying and often witnessing the latest research by leading experts in animal intelligence, it is possible to show how at least some creatures clearly meet those criteria.

Perhaps the best feature of the site is links to Amazon.com if you wish to purchase a book. Taking advantage of Amazon, the Centre receives a 15% commission on any book bought through the link.