Elisabeth Custalow joined the Animal Welfare Institute in 2025 as deputy general counsel, assisting the general counsel with oversight of legal issues relating to AWI’s programs and operations. Elisabeth spent 11 years as an attorney with the PETA Foundation, most recently as deputy general counsel, where she worked on a wide variety of initiatives, litigation, and regulatory actions for the advancement of animals’ interests, and she spent several years as a prosecutor, handling the gamut of criminal offenses, including cruelty to animals. She is a graduate of The College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia School of Law.