
This two-day online event will feature panels on animal cruelty prevention and investigation, courtroom animal advocate programs, groundbreaking new animal cruelty cases, and more! Reserve your spot now.
Agenda
Friday, May 5
- 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. PT / 12:00 – 1:15 p.m. ET
Better Together: Animal Cruelty Investigation and Prevention through Collaboration - 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. PT / 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
An Animal’s Impact: Novel Approaches to Criminal Sentencing
Saturday, May 6
- 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. PT / 12:00 – 1:15 p.m. ET
Appearing for The Animals: The Experience and Impact of The Nation’s First Courtroom Animal Advocate Program - 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. PT / 1:30 – 2:45 p.m. ET
Justice & Jurisprudence: Three Animal Crime Case Victories
Register for the Animal Law Symposium: Criminal Justice
This hybrid in-person and virtual event will feature panels on recent animal law issues before the courts.
Sessions
Better Together: Animal Cruelty Investigation and Prevention through Collaboration
Friday, 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. PT / 12:00 – 1:15 p.m. ET
A collaborative approach to animal cruelty investigations relies on the successful interface between law enforcement, forensic veterinarians, animal sheltering entities, and prosecutors. Animal cases require each of these disciplines to understand and execute their unique roles with precision while also understanding the duty, constraints, and capabilities of each other in the context of the investigation and prosecution. Strong relationships between these entities can also result in positive outcomes for animals and people through access to services, education and support that circumvent animal suffering and criminal citation. This panel will discuss the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Collaborative Response Project and the successes and progress made in one community through training, grant funding, and hands on support.
Speakers:
- Emily Lewis, Managing Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
- Linda Fielder, Animal Cruelty Investigations Manager, Animal Legal Defense Fund
- Lora Dunn, Criminal Justice Program Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund
An Animal’s Impact: Novel Approaches to Criminal Sentencing
Friday, 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. PT / 1:30 – 2:45 p.m. ET
Increasingly the public realizes that animals being subjected to criminal cruelty is a serious matter, deserving a response. The question remains, however, how to arrive at case outcomes that best address these crimes to achieve justice for the animals and the community? Conversely, are there lessons we can learn from the human-animal bond that can help create better outcomes in other cases? Exploring these questions with us are ALDF Managing Attorney, David B. Rosengard, and Deputy District Attorney, Jill Hollander, (Chief of Fulton County’s Crimes Against Animals Division). Rosengard will outline a new training program for criminal justice stakeholders that — by centering the experience of animal victims — builds nuanced sentencing packages that prioritize restoring victim well-being and preventing future crimes against animals. Hollander will discuss her work with Canine Cellmates, an innovative program that deploys an alternative sentencing model pairing individuals charged with certain felony crimes with unadopted shelter dogs and leveraging the human-animal bond to the benefit of all.
Speakers:
- David Rosengard, Managing Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
- Jill Hollander, Deputy District Attorney – Animal Cruelty & Elder Abuse Unit, Fulton County, GA
- Jessica Chapman, Criminal Justice Program Fellow, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Appearing for The Animals: The Experience and Impact of The Nation’s First Courtroom Animal Advocate Program
Saturday, 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. PT / 12:00 – 1:15 p.m. ET
Six years ago, Connecticut enacted the nation’s first Courtroom Animal Advocate Program in the form of Desmond’s Law, enabling judges to appoint pro bono attorneys and supervised law students to advance the interests of justice by spotlighting the needs and experiences of animal victims in cruelty cases. Join University of Connecticut Associate Dean for Experiential Education and Clinical Professor of Law, Jessica Rubin, and University of Connecticut Animal Law Clinic Teaching Fellow, Tara Cooley, as they share their unparalleled perspective on CAAP laws and lay out what the results of their study of the impact of Desmond’s Law on animal crimes in Connecticut.
Speakers:
- Jessica Rubin, Associate Dean for Experiential Education and Director of the Animal Law Clinic, UConn School of Law
- Tara Cooley, Animal Law Clinic Teaching Fellow, UConn School of Law
- Moderator: Kim Kelly, Legislative Affairs Program Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Justice & Jurisprudence: Three Animal Crime Case Victories
Saturday, 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. PT / 1:30 – 2:45 p.m. ET
Due to the unique nature of crimes against animals, successfully responding to cruelty cases can involve being prepared to answer new legal questions—or find new utility for old techniques. This panel will explore how embracing this challenge can create better law for all. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Anne J. Phinney, will reveal how State v. Doll resolved a long-running question: how long can someone convicted of animal cruelty be banned from possessing an animal? Animal Legal Defense Fund Staff Attorney, Kathleen Wood, will explain how she untangled issues of personhood, victim status, and domestic violence in successfully urging the Washington Supreme Court to hold that animal cruelty committed during domestic violence is not a victimless crime. Legal Counsel, Will Lowrey, will discuss how Animal Outlook was able to use a venerable Pennsylvania law designed for human victims to ensure that cows subject to criminal cruelty in a dairy factory farm get their day in court.
Speakers:
- Will Lowrey, Founder and Legal Counsel, Animal Partisan
- Anne Phinney, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Clark County, WA
- Kathleen Wood, Staff Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
- Moderator: Kate Youssouf, Staff Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
- Conclusory remarks:
David Rosengard, Managing Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Register for the Animal Law Symposium: Criminal Justice
This hybrid in-person and virtual event will feature panels on recent animal law issues before the courts.
How We Work
Related
-
Federal Judge Rules USDA Acted Unlawfully in Denying Petition to Improve the Psychological Well-Being of Primates Used in Research
On March 23, 2023, Judge Julie Rubin of the federal district court in Maryland issued a decision, ruling that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) acted unlawfully by denying a petition for rulemaking to improve the standard for the psychological well-being of primates in researchMarch 23, 2023 News -
Legal Petition Demands New York Department of Environmental Conservation Revoke Animal Adventure Park Exhibitor License
Numerous violations documented at the facility of inadequate animal careMarch 16, 2023 Press Release -
Kate Mara to Pay Adoption Fees for All Canine CellMates Dog Graduates in Need of Immediate Homes
Alternative sentencing program in Fulton County, Georgia pairs shelter dogs with criminal defendants to offer both training and a second chanceMarch 16, 2023 Press Release