ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a new paradigm, premised on the equal protection principle, for the legal regulation of human interactions with domestic animals: Equal Protection of Animals (EPA). It identifies the ontology of the problem as interest-convergence, famously described by Derrick Bell in the desegregation context. The chapter proposes a new legal paradigm for the regulation of human interaction with domestic animals based on the principle of equal protection that "like beings should be treated alike" to resolve significant problems: the EPA paradigm. It discusses a salient example of the effects of legal gerrymandering from the litigation over "humane" treatment of factory farm animals, where agricultural industry expert testimony about animal capacities is given greater weight than independent scientific opinions. The chapter examines existing proposals for law reform, ranging from changing the legal status of animals from property to persons or "living property," to a nondiscrimination approach that recognizes the right of all animals to non-interference.
