In Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Dept. of the Interior, 581 F.3d 1063 (9th Cir. 2009), a divided three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit determined that the United States Department of the Interior ("DOI") and the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") had failed to properly evaluate the environmental impacts, including the impact on wildlife, of a proposed land exchange.

One of the driving issues behind the field of animal law is the disconnect between the law's description of animals as "property" with the understanding so many of us have that animals are much more than that - most of the tens of millions of Americans who share their homes with dogs, cats, and other animal companions would agree that they are, most definitely, members of the family.

Sometimes, it's the subtle details that hit you right between the eyes. I've just returned from the annual animal law conference held at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon and throughout this excellent conference, I felt the presence of something else... something that is new and wonderful and growing.

In March of 1981, the U.S. Navy secretly shot and killed 648 feral burros at the Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, California. In the organization's first big case, ALDF, representing the Animal Protection Institute and the Fund for Animals, argued that the Navy had violated the National Environmental Policy Act.

Happy Birthday, Animal Legal Defense Fund! I'm proud of what we have accomplished and thrilled to still be a part of you. The best is yet to come...

Join us as we celebrate our 30th anniversary!

Volume 2 of the Stanford Journal of Animal Law and Policy (SJALP) is now online.

When she got her law degree, Joyce Tischler knew exactly what she loved, she just didn’t expect to make a living doing it.

Collier County, Florida

Tragic results for everyone when wild animals are kept as "pets"

Joyce Tischler, ALDF founder and general counsel, recently talked with Scott Drake of Speaking of Justice about a lawsuit filed by the Humane Society of the United States against six of the nation's largest retailers and fashion designers for engaging in false advertising and mislabeling of fur garments. The complaint, filed in December, 2008 in D.C. Superior Court, names Andrew Marc, Dillard's, Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue and claims that these retailers and designers misrepresent fur products by labeling and marketing them as faux fur when they are real fur. The suit also claims that those mentioned advertise and label products as common raccoon, fox or rabbit when actually made from raccoon dog, a canine species from Asia.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Releases Annual Report Ranking Animal Cruelty Laws Across the Nation

This report - the only one of its kind in the nation - ranks the animal protection laws of every state based on their relative strength and general comprehensiveness.

Move Follows Storm of Opposition From Animal Protection Groups