Episodes

  • S3 Ep6: From Welfare to Rights
    May 26 2026

    The final episode of the season reflects on the journey from animal welfare laws to the animal rights paradigm, highlighting the limits of welfare approaches and the recognition of animals as sentient, social, and deserving of legal rights. How animal rights law could reshape society? What happens next?

    Animal Rights Tour is written by Sean Butler, hosted by Carly McCann, and fact-checked by Paulina Siemieniec.

    This podcast is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals. Learn more about the Centre at animalrightslaw.org.

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    2 mins
  • S3 Ep5: The Right to Good Work
    Apr 14 2026

    Episode five explores the idea of giving working animals a right to good work. This would include fair hours, time off, safety and meaningful tasks. It suggests that until animals are freed from forced labor, we should ensure their jobs are safe, enjoyable, and respected.

    Animal Rights Tour is written by Sean Butler, hosted by Carly McCann, and fact-checked by Paulina Siemieniec.

    This podcast is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals. Learn more about the Centre at animalrightslaw.org.

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    3 mins
  • S3 Ep4: Making Companionship an Animal Right
    Apr 14 2026

    In this episode, Carly explores the idea of a right to companionship for animals, using Happy the elephant to show how social species suffer when kept alone. She references the Bramble Committee and the Five Freedoms to explain why appropriate company matters.

    Animal Rights Tour is written by Sean Butler, hosted by Carly McCann, and fact-checked by Paulina Siemieniec.

    This podcast is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals. Learn more about the Centre at animalrightslaw.org.

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    2 mins
  • S3 Ep3: The Right to Bodily Integrity
    Apr 14 2026

    Can animals have the right to bodily integrity? This episode reviews the history of vivisection laws, the dominance of animal testing for human health, and the ethical tension between protecting human lives and respecting individual animals.

    It also discusses growing alternatives to animal experiments, proposals for gradual legal changes (phased protections and prioritising dogs and primates), and the scope of the issue, including millions of animals used each year.

    Animal Rights Tour is written by Sean Butler, hosted by Carly McCann, and fact-checked by Paulina Siemieniec.

    This podcast is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals. Learn more about the Centre at animalrightslaw.org.

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    3 mins
  • S3 Ep2: Giving Animals a Right to Life
    Apr 14 2026

    This episode explores what it would mean to give animals a legal right to life, including the implications for farming, hunting, and slaughter.

    It discusses which animals might be covered (sentient species), how laws would likely apply to human behaviour rather than wild predator-prey interactions, and whether animals understand death.

    Animal Rights Tour is written by Sean Butler, hosted by Carly McCann, and fact-checked by Paulina Siemieniec.

    This podcast is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals. Learn more about the Centre at animalrightslaw.org.

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    3 mins
  • S3 Ep1: Who Gets Rights?
    Apr 14 2026

    Host Carly introduces the new season of the Animal Rights Tour, exploring existing and proposed laws that grant rights to animals and highlighting two places that have already done so.

    The episode explores the central questions: which animals should receive rights (using sentience as the likely criterion) and what those rights might include—such as the right to life and protection from experimentation.

    This sets up the rest of Season 3 of Animal Rights Tour, beginning with an in-depth look at what a legal right to life for animals would mean.

    Animal Rights Tour is written by Sean Butler, hosted by Carly McCann, and fact-checked by Paulina Siemieniec.

    This podcast is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals. Learn more about the Centre at animalrightslaw.org.

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    2 mins
  • S2 Ep7: Kaavan the Elephant
    Dec 18 2025

    In this season finale, Carly reviews Judge Athar Minallah's landmark ruling in Pakistan that affirmed legal rights for Kaavan the elephant.

    The decision led to Kaavan’s transfer to the Elephant Nature Park sanctuary in Cambodia, where he could live in better conditions.

    In Season 3 of Animal Rights Tour, we will examine what animal rights mean in practice.

    Animal Rights Tour is written by Sean Butler, hosted by Carly McCann, and fact-checked by Paulina Siemieniec.

    This podcast is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals and based in Cambridge, UK. Learn more about the Centre at animalrightslaw.org.

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    3 mins
  • S2 Ep6: Cecilia's Victory in Argentina
    Dec 18 2025

    Judge Maria Alejandra Mauricio ruled that Cecilia, a lonely chimpanzee, should be recognised in law because animals—especially great apes—are sentient beings with social, emotional, and cognitive lives.

    Relying also on Argentina’s 1994 constitutional protections for collective goods and cultural patrimony, the judge found that Cecilia’s well-being is part of what courts must protect, opening the door to legal rights for animals and urging society to be grateful for the chance to grow more humane.

    As a result of the decision, Cecilia was moved in 2018 to the Great Ape Project Sanctuary in Brazil, where she lives today with a mate named Rakker.

    Animal Rights Tour is written by Sean Butler, hosted by Carly McCann, and fact-checked by Paulina Siemieniec.

    This podcast is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals and based in Cambridge, UK. Learn more about the Centre at animalrightslaw.org.

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    3 mins