How Undergraduate Students Can Get Involved in Animal Law

Undergraduate students can take many steps to become involved in the field of animal law. Below are some suggestions:

• Connect with us on social media.
• Check out the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s current cases  to learn how you can support our work!
• If your undergraduate university has a law school, you can get involved with your campus Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter. You can also join your undergraduate university’s animal protection organization, or start one.
  • Your campus animal protection organization can take on many of the same projects that Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapters complete.
• Participate in our Animal Law Academy webinars.
• Attend and participate in animal law conferences and events.
• Check out our Animal Law 101.
• Volunteer with your local animal protection group, humane society, farm sanctuary or animal law attorney.
• Read!
  • Check out Sloth: A Journal of Emerging Voices in Human-Animal Studies, a journal that publishes international, multi-disciplinary writing by undergraduate students and other early career scholars that deals with human/non-human animal relationships from the perspectives of the social sciences, the humanities, and the natural sciences.
• Attend your bar association’s animal law section or committee meetings and events.
• Check out some of our other resources:
  • So You Wanna Be an Animal Lawyer?
  • Where Should You Go to Law School?
  • Q&A with an Animal Legal Defense Fund Attorney about Pursuing a Career in Animal Law
• Take an animal law class if your university offers it. Schools   that have offered animal law courses for undergraduates include:
  • University of Windsor (Windsor, Ontario, Canada)
    • Taught by Rochelle Stevenson
    • Course name: Animals and the Law
  • Rutgers School of Environmental & Biological Sciences (New Brunswick, NJ)
    • Taught by Sandra K. Jones, Esq.
    • Email: sandyschlitt@gmail.com
    • Course name: Animals and the Law
  • Canisius College (Buffalo, NY)
    • Taught by Paul Waldau
    • Email: waldaup@canisius.edu
    • Course name: Animals, Public Policy, and the Law
  • Drury University (Springfield, MO)
    • Taught by Anthony Brown
    • Email: TonyB@co.taney.mo.us
    • Course name: Animal Law I
  • Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, KY)
    • Taught by Lynnette Noblitt
    • Email: lynnette.noblitt@eku.edu
    • Course name: Animals and the Law
  • Green Mountain College (Poultney, VT)
    • Taught by Sam Edwards
    • Email:  edwardss@greenmtn.edu
    • Course name: Wildlife Law & Policy
  • The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts (Austin, Texas)
    • Taught by Amon Burton
    • Email: aburton@law.utexas.edu
    • Course name: Law & Ethics of Animal Rights
  • Brock University (Ontario, Canada)
    • Taught by Lauren Corman
    • Email: lcorman@brocku.ca
    • Course name: Animals and the Law
  • University of New Hampshire Thompson School of Applied Science (Durham, NH)
    • Taught by Jerilee A. Zezula
    • Course name: Animal Cruelty: NH Laws, Investigations, and Prosecution
  • Washington State University (Pullman, WA)
    • Taught by Ruth Newberry
    • Course name: Rights and Welfare of Animals
  • New York University (New York, NY)
    • Taught by David J. Wolfson
    • Email: djw9@nyu.edu
    • Course name: Animals and Public Policy
  • University of Southern Maine (Portland, ME)
    • Taught by Piers Beirne
    • Email: beirne@maine.edu
    • Course name: Animal Abuse
  • West Chester University (West Chester, PA)
    • Taught by Cassandra Reyes
    • Email: cryeres@wcupa.edu
    • Course name: Animal Cruelty
  • University of New Mexico
    • Taught by Marsha Baum
    • Email: baum@law.unm.edu
    • Course name: Advocating for Animals

Note: Academic schedules change unexpectedly and some courses may no longer be offered. For updated information on courses, please contact the referenced school directly.