Any of the statutory or case laws that are of social, legal, or biological nature dealing with nonhuman animals is the essence of animal law.  Animal law comprises wildlife, companion animals as well as the animals used for the entertainment business, research and those raised for food.

The field of animal law is just like the environmental law movement that was begun 30 years ago and it contains, animal law approaches, the organizations relating to animal law and also animal law in academia.  A comprehensive list of information regarding animal control, animal cruelty, the welfare of animals used in laboratories, education and product testing is included here as well as data on general animal welfare.

The issues in animal law are so broad that they can be philosophical explorations on the rights of animals, pragmatic discussions about the rights of those who use specific animals, and what really constitutes legal cruelty to animals.  The traditional areas of law like tort, contract, constitutional and criminal law are included here and can provide clear and detailed methods in dealing with subjects like who gets the companion animal in a divorce or separation dispute and even veterinary malpractice cases.

It covers the material like the animal law casebook which details law like tort, contract, criminal and constitutional law since animal law is not a traditional legal field.  It details how animal law affects the broad areas of law.  With animal law, statutes for states, districts and territories in America can also be detailed relating to animal protection.