Carving the meat at the joint: The role of defining how animals are viewed and treated in the governance of (re-)emergent pandemic zoonoses in international law

Abstract

Pandemic zoonoses, such as COVID-19, are one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. International governance tasked with attempting to prevent the (re-)emergence of zoonotic disease in the first place, or preparation and actual response once (re-)emergence or spread has occurred, has largely been fragmented among different governance systems, such as health, food, environment, and trade. The international legal instruments that these governance systems use reflect different ways of viewing and treating animals, which has led to a similarly fragmented approach to the regulation of human–animal interactions related to zoonoses. To illustrate this state of affairs, we develop a descriptive conceptual taxonomy to elucidate and map out how the status and evaluative stance taken toward animals can lead to shaping human-animal relationships by structuring the nature of their interactions and disposes us to adopt governance approaches that seek to regulate human–animal relationships in particular ways. This paper concludes by highlighting some implications surrounding the fragmented conceptualization and practice around how animals are viewed and treated for the future of international legal governance of pandemic zoonoses.