Animal
Kingdom Gains New Crop of Legal Advocates
Legal programs across
U.S. offering courses in animal
rights advocacy
By
Heather Malec
Doctor Doolittle might need to make room at the table for another
member of a longstanding profession—attorneys. Law schools across the country are
establishing animal law programs to train students to join the growing field of
animal rights advocacy. Bob Barker, one of the animal kingdom’s staunchest
supporters and the Emmy award winning host of The Price is Right, is leading the
charge through his Bob Barker Endowment Fund for the Study of Animal Rights
Law. Six of the country’s leading law schools
Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford,
Duke, and UCLA–have each been the recent recipient of a $1 million donation from
Barker to fund studies about animal rights. “With the help of some attorney
friends, I’ve
put together a list of what they believe to be the finest law schools
in the
United States,”
Barker explains. “I selected these law schools on a geographic basis
in an effort to make
the endowment funds available to students across the nation.” Barker,
whose passion for animal rights is well-known, would like to see
more animal rights
laws added to the books. “I’m concentrating my efforts on law schools in
the hope
that law students who study animal law will be better prepared
to enforce our existing
laws and hopefully initiate more stringent laws to protect
animals in the future,”
he adds. At
Northwestern
Law
School
the endowment might be used to offer courses on various topics including: how
humans interact with and use animals, current animal protection laws, species
protection, and international wildlife law. “Many of our students can expect to
deal with an animal law issue at some point in their careers,” says Dean David
Van Zandt. “Legal issues can cover a wide spectrum, ranging from patent and intellectual
property law to criminal prosecution or defense, or constitutional law.” Animal
advocacy is not a new issue for Americans. The nation’s first anti-cruelty statute
was passed in 1867 in
New York,
with help from the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals. Across the country, anti-cruelty statutes were created to
criminalize animal abuse and offer protections enforceable under the law.
Arguments about treating all animals (not just domestic pets) more humanely
have been gaining ground over the last several decades. As a result, animal law
is gaining in popularity as more cases enter the judicial system. Animal law a legitimate field of study Today,
approximately 58 law schools offer at least one course, or plan to
offer a course or reading
seminar on animal law, an increase of more than 50 percent from
five years ago, according to Stephen Wells, Director of the Animal Law
Program for the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF). In the same time
period, the ALDF’s student chapters have also grown from 10 to more than 60
chapters in the
United States
and
Canada. Wells
explains, “The biggest change in the last five years of animal law is simply
the explosive growth rate. For law students, there are obviously far more
available opportunities to take classes, participate in student projects, and
to intern for animal law-oriented firms and attorneys.” Its
acceptance as part of routine curriculum at law schools is changing. “Animal
law is now taken seriously as a legitimate field by most law schools,”
Wells adds. Opportunities
to practice animal law are still somewhat limited. Many of the
attorneys who work in animal law are either working for not-for-profit animal
protection organizations or doing volunteer work in the field and working
at a practice or for law firms. “It is still difficult to
make a living as an animal lawyer,” Wells says, “however, this
too is changing. With greater recognition under the law will come greater
opportunities for attorneys to defend animals from harm and to prosecute
offenders.”
Bridging
the gap
As
more law schools recognize the growing prestige of animal law, students can
expect a more formalized curriculum and perhaps even a degree or certificate program.
However, according to Wells, “The biggest issue for the future of animal law is
to improve the way the law views and treats animals. In every state, animals
are still considered property. But there is somewhat of a paradox because as a
society we clearly do not consider our companion animals–in particular–to be
property. It is this gulf between the way society views animals and the way the
law views them that has created some exciting opportunities to work in this
field,” he concludes.
Get
involved
You
don’t have to hold a law degree to join the growing animal advocacy field.
Non-lawyers can help by writing letters to decision-makers in local, state, and
federal politics or by participating in local demonstrations. Local animal
rights groups are also always looking for volunteers to get out mailings, produce
information packets, update Web sites, and keep files of pleadings up-to-date.
Or,
as Bob Barker reminds his viewers, you can help by making sure that your pet is
spayed or neutered. “Overpopulation is one of the most tragic animal problems
in our country,” Barker says.
Chicago lawyer advancing
animal interests
In
2002, Amy Breyer established the first animal law practice in
Illinois. Her typical caseload involves
primary litigation including veterinary malpractice, civil cruelty claims,
condominium/zoning uses, dog bites, consumer fraud, and contractual disputes with
breeders, among other various torts and negligence. “My goal is to provide
high-quality, competitive legal services to individuals and organizations that
want to protect and advance the interests of non-human animals,” Breyer says. Breyer
first became interested in animal law when she was working in journalism. “I
read a story about a man who was convicted of animal cruelty and thought to myself,
‘I don’t want to be telling people about it, I want to be doing something about
it,’” Breyer says. Breyer is now also sharing her passion and experience as an
adjunct professor in animal law at DePaul University College of Law. While job
prospects are tough, according to Breyer, animal law “will continue to become
more mainstream, although it will likely be many years before it becomes accepted
and entrenched the way environmental law is now.” For Chicagoans, “the growth
in animal law means that one day the interests of animals will be taken more
seriously by the legal system,” she concludes. To learn more about Amy Breyer’s
practice and animal law visit
www.AnimalLawOnline.net.
