In Class
This new series highlights interesting and thought-provoking classes taught at Willamette.
COURSE LAW 263: ANIMAL LAW ENROLLMENT
The class enrolls 10-20 students, typically in the second or third year of law school. The small class size encourages dynamic discussion. INSTRUCTOR
Adjunct professor Scott Beckstead has taught this course and others on wildlife law and the Endangered Species Act at Willamette’s College of Law since 2010. Born and raised on a ranch in southern Idaho, Beckstead hunted, showed rabbits, goats and cattle at 4H, and was a member of Future Farmers of America. He practiced law in Oregon for 17 years. A passionate advocate for animals, he co-authored the first textbook on animal law in 2000 and is currently rural affairs director and Oregon senior state director for the Humane Society of the United States. HIGHLIGHTS
SYLLABUS
The class offers an exploration and discussion of the treatment of animals under state, federal, and constitutional law. Session topics includes the various legal classifications of animals, the obligations and state regulation of ownership, veterinary malpractice, animals in agriculture, wildlife issues and criminal law in cases of animal abuse and neglect. As part of their assignments, students write an animal adoption contract and a 20-page summary judgment memorandum that discusses relevant legal statutes and cases for an animal law tort case.
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FALL 2017
In the first session of the course, Beckstead shows students two photographs: one of a Labrador retriever trapped by the leg in a steel trap, and the other of a coyote caught in a similar device. “The level of pain and suffering felt by both animals is probably the same,” he says, “so why does the law decide one act is objectionable and the other is to be encouraged?” Over the next 14 weeks, students will explore similar inconsistencies in how pets, wildlife and farm animals are regarded and treated under the law. They learn about landmark legislation such as the Endangered Species Act, as well as the Lacey Act of 1900, the first federal statute that said wildlife couldn’t be privatized or commercialised because it belongs to everyone. Instead, like natural resources, wildlife was held in public trust, to be managed by the state for the public interest.