The gathering momentum for animal rights

The focus of this article is to track the progress that has been made on behalf ofanimals within the legal institutions of the United States. While there is an obvious focus onthe adoption of new laws, there are many steps or changes that are necessary within broaderlegal intuitions if substantial progress is to be made in the changing and enforcing of thelaws. For example, at the same time that legislatures must be convinced of the need forchange, so must the judges believe in the new laws, otherwise enforcement of the law will benot forthcoming.Besides the court and the legislature, legal institutions include law schools, legal publications,and the various associations of lawyers and law professors. What is the visibility andcredibility of animal issues within these institutions? Without progress within all aspects ofthe legal community, success on behalf of animals is not possible. We in the United Stateshave made progress, particularly in the past ten years, but we have much yet that needs to bedone. By charting the progress and lack of progress in the United States, the readers inBrazil and other countries will have some landmarks by which to judge the progress of theissue of animal rights/welfare within their own country