The Animal Law Movement is deeply involved in wide-ranging work that will transform the legal status of animals. This year’s conference will explore how this is playing out in civil, criminal and international law, as well as academia, politics and scientific study.

Introduction by: Pamela Hart, Executive Director, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School

Moral consideration for animals is still hotly debated despite studies continuing to show that animals are sentient beings who feel pain and seek pleasure. This panel will discuss the ethical theories behind animal protection, how these theories have been bolstered by recent advancements in our understanding of animals, and the ways in which the law has both paved the way and has been led by society’s shifting paradigm on how we treat and view animals.

There is sometimes a misconception that our ability to protect animals within the criminal justice system is too limited and inadequate to effect real change. But recent developments in criminal law—recognition of animals as victims and sentient beings, burgeoning courtroom animal advocate programs, and cases focused on animals’ emotional suffering—make this an exciting time to be a practitioner in criminal animal law. This panel will explore the numerous ways that animals are considered “more than property” in the criminal justice system and how professionals in the field, from prosecutors to veterinarians, can further this trend and have a real impact on animal victims.

This panel will discuss the challenges and promises of using civil litigation to transform animals’ legal status. Panelists will discuss high profile animal rights cases, including the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s attempt to establish animals’ right to sue their abusers for damages and the Nonhuman Rights Project’s efforts to win writs of habeas corpus for chimps and elephants. The panel will also explore how civil litigation efforts that may formally fall short of securing fundamental changes to animals’ legal status can nevertheless yield critically important changes to their de facto status and play a role in paving the way toward more fundamental rights in the future.

Slowly but surely, our legal theater is seeing animals being transformed from mere props and property to players on the global stage. Join these experts as they map this international evolution in animal status and shine a spotlight on the rights, protections, and considerations that are helping to give it shape.

Doing the work of advocating for animals within the legal system can be challenging. Professional ethics hypotheticals are rarely crafted with animal law in mind; nor are legal self-care models explicitly built to account for constant exposure to the visceral injustice faced by animals. In this session, we walk through the basics of compassion fatigue and common ethical quandaries—laying out ways to address each in turn.

When it comes to learning, nothing beats hands-on experience. Law school clinics create space for law students to dive deeply into a subject while developing essential lawyering skills, unconstrained by the pressures inherent to other settings. This panel will address the development of animal law clinics, the many experiential learning opportunities presented by clinics and related courses, the role of community partners and pro bono attorneys in clinics, and examples of the unique and creative work being done in animal law clinics to simultaneously develop the field of animal law while using service-learning to prepare students to be effective legal advocates.

Animals can’t vote, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a voice in the political process. Making laws to improve the lives of animals, however, doesn’t just start by introducing a bill. The real work begins by helping animal-friendly candidates get elected and then collaborating with them on issues over time until they can become a true legislative champion. Learn how you can elevate animal-friendly lawmakers to positions of power.

As we learn more about the capacities of nonhuman animals, technology too continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Machines that look like humans and animals have captured the public imagination. Don’t miss out on this discussion on interesting issues at the intersection of animal law and technology.