Topic: Animal Law

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Center for Animal Law Studies director comments on animal rights

In an Associated Press (AP) story that has made its way into publications around the world, Pamela Frasch, law professor and executive director of the Center for Animal Law Studies, comments on the growing field of animal law.

For the past 16 years, Lewis & Clark has been at the forefront of this emerging legal field. The school was the first to publish an animal law journal, the first to establish an international conference on animal law and the first to develop an animal law clinic, with full-time faculty.

In the AP article, Frasch points out that animal law is where environmental law was 20 years ago—demand is growing rapidly but much about this legal practice area is still to be tested and developed. In 2000, Lewis and Clark was one of nine law schools to offer animal law studies. Today about 100 do.

Frasch notes that because state laws vary to such a wide extent, there continues to be a mix of inconsistent laws regarding animal rights. “A mouse as a pet has protection. A mouse as a pest can be killed at will. Research mice have no protection. It is the same animal but it is a matter of context.”

San Fransisco Chronicle (San Fransisco, Calif.) More laws being passed to protect animals

MSNBC Animal cruelty laws among fastest-growing

Chicago Daily Herald (Chicago, Ill.)  Animal law one of the fastest-growing niches in the industry

Detroit Free Press Animal law makes steady gains in states, experts say

The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah) Animal rights? Some things shouldn’t happen to a dog

Santa Rosa Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.) Animal rights become hot field of legal study

York Daily Record (Pennsylvania)  In some states, they shoot dogs, don’t they?

24 February 2009

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Law alum Kim McCoy featured on Animal Planet series

Kim McCoyKim McCoy , a 2007 alumna of the law school, is the Executive Director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and one of the subjects in the upcoming television series “Whale Wars” on Animal Planet.

Deeply committed to the defense and conservation of animals worldwide, McCoy served as editor-in-chief of the internationally acclaimed Animal Law Review while she was a law student. She also interned with the International Environmental Law Project and worked on animal rights issues.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, research, and enforce laws, treaties, resolutions, and regulations established to protect ocean wildlife and their habitats worldwide.

“Whale Wars,” a controversial mini-series that worked with Sea Shepherd, showcases the group’s interference with a Japanese whaling expedition in order to protect the greatest treasure of the seas: the great whales.

“Whale Wars” begins November 7 at 9 p.m. on Animal Planet. Learn more about Kim online.

29 October 2008

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Animal law experts from around the world convene at law school

Close to 250 animal law experts and advocates from around the world convened at Lewis & Clark Law School on Oct. 17-19 for the 16th Annual Animal Law Conference to discuss the interconnections between animal law and a broad array of issues such as religion, farming, environmentalism, and homeland security. The event was sponsored by the Center for Animal Law Studies in collaboration with the Animal League Defense Fund.

Mark Hawthorne, animal rights advocate, blogger, and author of Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism, writes: The panel that made the biggest impression on me had to do with the state of animal law in China, which is to say none at all. Presented by Paul Littlefair of RSPCA International and Amanda Whitfort, who teaches law at the University of Hong Kong, the session covered the legal and cultural hurdles animal advocates must overcome in Asia….

Read his blog about the conference.

21 October 2008

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Center for Animal Law Studies addresses need for clear public policy

Pamela Frasch, executive director of the Center for Animal Law Studies, responds to the recent birth of a calf to an elephant named Rose-Tu at the Oregon Zoo. After a flurry of media attention about Rose-Tu’s initial rejection of her calf, many question whether her unusual behavior has anything to do with the abuse she suffered as a calf in 2000, brought on by an Oregon Zoo handler. Although the handler was fired from the zoo, the district attorney initially refused to prosecute him because of an anti-cruelty statute requiring proof of the animal’s pain from the animal. Though the Legislature eventually passed a law (written by Lewis & Clark graduate and ALDF executive director, Stephan Otto) erasing the subjective pain measure to determine animal cruelty, Frasch urges the public to remember Rose-Tu’s complex history  at the zoo: “As we continue to evolve in our willingness to consider the interests of animals when making policy or passing laws, let’s remember Rose-Tu and her calf,” Frasch writes.

The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) The legal lesson of Rose-Tu and her calf

6 October 2008

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Lewis & Clark Law School’s National Center for Animal Law pushes for alternative educational options

The National Center for Animal Law, based at Lewis & Clark Law School, has asked Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda Maryland to stop using live animals for medical school training. Uniformed Services University is one of 10 medical schools in the country that has not moved to alternative educational options.

The Gazette (Gaithersburg , Md.): Use of live animals as teaching tools protested

19 December 2007

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Lewis & Clark Law School leads in animal law

Lewis & Clark Law School remains a leader in the increasingly popular study of animal law and presents its students with the ideological challenge of balancing idealism and pragmatism.

The Chronicle of Higher Education (Washington D.C.): The growing field of animal law is attracting activists and pragmatists alike

29 June 2007

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