Alejandro LopezPer: 4 9/19/2007

The Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641)

The free fruition of such liberties Immunities and privileges as humanities, Civilities, and Christianities call for as due to every man in his place and proportion without impeachment and

Infringement hath ever been and ever will be the tranquility and Stabilities of Churches and Commonwealths. And the denial or deprival thereof, the disturbance if not the ruined of both.

We should it therefore our duties and safeties whilst we are about the further establishing of this Government to collect and expresses all such freedoms as for present we foresee may concerned

us, and our posterities after us, And to ratify them with our solemner consent.

Act for More Effectual Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1867)

While throughout the ages individual humans must have had great sympathy with individual animals, it was not until the last half of the 19th Century that the US legal system began to be

reflect concern for the welfare of animals. (The British did get a slight head start on the US with the passage of law in the early 1800's. Concern for the well being of animals cumulated in a

political movement which pushed for the passage of a new set of laws at the state level, referred to as anti-cruelty laws. Leadership in this area was found in the State of New York, and within

New York the efforts of one man, Henry Bergh, dominated the scene. A window into the broader context of the period is provided through one volume of Our Dumb Animals this monthly

magazine was produced by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevent of Cruelty to Animals. It contains a diversity of items and formats which today’s reader may find quaint and almost child-

like in humor and outlook.

The Animal Transportation Act (1906)

That the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall make uniform rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this Act,

including the collection and examination of specimens of foods and drugs manufactured or offered for sale in the District of Columbia or in any Territory of the United States, or which shall be offered for sale in unbroken packages in any State other than that in which they shall

have been respectively manufactured or produced, or which shall be received from any foreign country, or intended for shipment to any foreign country, or which may be submitted for

examination by the chief health, food, or drug officer of any State, Territory, or the District of

Columbia, or at any domestic or foreign port through which such product is offered for interstate commerce, or for export or import between the United States and any foreign port or country.

The Humane Slaughter Act (1958)

According to the law, animals should be stunned into unconsciousness prior to their slaughter to ensure a quick, relatively painless death. The most common methods are electrocution or a metal

bolt to the head. Frequent on-site monitoring is necessary, as is the employment of skilled and well-trained personnel. An animal is considered properly stunned when there is no "righting

reflex"; that is, the animal must not try to stand up and right itself. Only then can it be considered fully unconscious.

Marine Mammal Protection Act of (1972)

The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act established a Federal responsibility to conserve marine mammals with management vested in the Department of Interior for sea otter, walrus,

polar bear, dugong, and manatee. The Department of Commerce is responsible for cetaceans and pinnipeds, other than the walrus.