Troubling the Legal Standing of Farmed Animals During a Disaster

Keywords: Animal agriculture, Hurricanes, North Carolina, Disaster Response,
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 1

Abstract

Farmed animals’ legal lives are spatially distinct depending upon which phase of production they are situated. With the emerging threats of the climate crisis and subsequent extreme weather events, we examine the lived experiences of farmed animals during disaster events through the lens of legal geography, which sees law not as static, but a “living process”. We focus our attention on Eastern North Carolina, where millions of pigs and poultry live in confined animal feeding operations on coastal plains. We examine the animated legal realities of farmed animals through a case study of Hurricane Florence (2018). To do this we elaborate on the legal infrastructure governing animals as they move through a “steady state” production system and then into a timeline of what happens just before, during, and post-hurricane. Drawing from interviews, participant observation, and secondary data analysis, we sketch out the lived experiences of farmed animals and interconnected human communities. What we find are three possible governed pathways or outcomes for impacted animals and its relation to humans: to be re-incorporated into production, to be culled based on exposure or injury, or, to leave production. In each scenario, the animals find themselves governed differently by law, corporate policy, insurance, and best management practices, with little opportunity to act as agents. In this paper we explore the disaster event as it opens a space of uncertainty that either re-affirms animals' commodity status or presents an opportunity for alternative modes of living and relating beyond the normative legal infrastructures.