The Bohnett Animal Law Speaker Series

Thanks to generous sponsorship by the David Bohnett Foundation, the Animal Law Society at UCLA hosts a speaker series for all interested members of the UCLA, legal and animal rights communities. MCLE credit is often available for attending attorneys, and attendance is free (parking at UCLA is $9).

PAST LECTURES:

2007-2008 lectures:

Tippi Hedren:

On April 9, 2008, actress and conservationist Tippi Hedren spoke about issues affecting large cats, including a bill she co-authored entitled, "A Federal Ban to Stop the Breeding of the Exotic Felines for Personal Possession," which will be introduced to Congress in the very near future. Ms. Hedren serves as President of the Roar Foundation, which maintains the Shambala Preserve, the only wild animal preserve of its kind in the United States. Since 1972, the eighty-acre wildlife habitat has provided a haven for endangered exotic big cats, including African lions, Siberian and Bengal tigers, leopards, servals, mountain lions, bobcats, a lynx, and a Florida panther. Most of these animals were born in captivity, with many of them being orphans or cast-offs from circuses, zoos and private owners who could no longer care for them. These animals could not survive in the wild and depend on humans for their needs. Ms. Hedren has testified before the House Resources Committee, and was instrumental in passing The Captive Wildlife Safety Act, which she co-authored. The Act makes it illegal to transport exotic cats across state lines or U.S. borders.

Gene Baur:

On March 12, 2008, Gene Baur of Farm Sanctuary, discussed factory farming issues and his just-published book, Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food. Mr. Baur is the President and Co-Founder of Farm Sanctuary. Since its founding in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has been instrumental in passing important legislation to protect farm animals. The group's exposing of the inhumane transport and marketing of "downed animals" (animals too sick to stand) led to the introduction of the Downed Animal Protection Act and the enactment of several state measures to prevent downed animal suffering. In addition, Farm Sanctuary has prosecuted and convicted stockyards for mistreating downed animals. The organization helped pass the first-ever law in the United States banning gestation crates--two-foot wide enclosures where breeding pigs spend the majority of their lives. The group also sponsored the country's first law banning the cruel force-feeding of ducks to make foie gras.

Ed Newcomer: "Case Studies in Criminal Enforcement of Environmental Statutes"
(co-sponsored with the Environmental Law Society at UCLA)

On March 19, 2008, Special Agent Ed Newcomer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, spoke to students and faculty about his experience in the field with criminal enforcment of environmental and animal law statutes. He presented interesing cases and provided background on the substantive law, primarily focusing on the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Act. 2006-2007 lectures:

Carter Dillard, Esq.:

On November 2, 2006, Carter Dillard, who serves as the Director of Farm Animal Litigation at the Humane Society of the United States spoke at UCLA School of Law. Before coming to the HSUS, Carter served as General Counsel with Compassion Over Killing, Inc., a nonprofit animal advocacy organization that focuses on cruelty to animals in agriculture.

With Compassion Over Killing, Carter aided in forcing the U.S. egg industry to discard a nationwide egg labeling scheme in which eggs produced in battery-cages were label as "Animal Care Certified." He alleged that the labeling was false and misleading in various arbitration and litigation forums. Carter has also worked to obtain criminal charges against animal agriculture corporations that abuse animals.

Joyce Tischler, Esq.:

On February 7, 2007, Joyce Tischler, Esq., a founding member of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, spoke at UCLA Law School about her firsthand perspective on the development of animal law. For more than a quarter of a century the ALDF has sought legal protection for animals and development of the field of animal law in academia as well as in practice. From its beginnings as a small group of concerned lawyers working together and networking with others across the country, the ALDF has grown into a vibrant, resilient, and sophisticated legal organization that leads the way on issues ranging from reform and development of various laws, including anti-cruelty statutes, and thoughtful litigation to protect many different kinds of animals, including those exploited for human consumption and human entertainment. Despite the many obstacles to improving the condition of animals in American society, ALDF has consistently remained on track in working tirelessly on their behalf.

Dave Rutan, Esq.:

On February 28, 2007, Dave Rutan, Esq., spoke about his experiences being literally on the frontlines of representing animals. Mr. Rutan serves as a legal observer at protests and demonstrations designed to draw attention to abuses of animals and those responsible for harm to animals. As a general matter, legal observers play an important role in social justice protests because of the potential for clashes between those protesting and those seeking to end or prevent a protest from occurring. The role of a legal observer is to monitor such situations to document any illegal or improper behavior by the police, security guards, or other law enforcement that is designed to squelch peaceful protest or peaceful assembly for lawful protest purposes. Mr. Rutan explained how law enforcement sometimes wrongly represent to peaceful protestors that a place is private when, in fact, that place is actually open to the public. Peaceful protests are exactly that--peaceful and nonviolent--and the extent to which those protests are impermissibly shut down is the extent to which we have lost the ability to engage one another in a public discourse about social justice issues. Mr. Rutan has been the legal observer at hundreds of protests and demonstrations on behalf of animals. Mr. Ruttan described some the obstacles peaceful protestors face when they try lawfully to present facts about and images of cruelty to animals that are not readily available to the public.

Kathy Meyer, Esq.:

On April 4, 2007, Kathy Meyer of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal discussed standing issues as they relate to animal protection. Ms. Meyer is a founding partner of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, a public-interest law firm in Washington, D.C. She specializes in animal and wildlife protection, endangered species law, environmental law, public health and open-government laws, and her firm has represented many animal protection and animal rights organizations, including The Fund for Animals, The Humane Society of the United States, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, In Defense of Animals, and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

2004-2005 lectures:

David Wolfson, Esq.: "McLibel"

On Thursday, September 9, David Wolfson from the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, and McCloy discussed the treatment of farm animals in the context of his article "McLibel" as well as the effect of "customary farming practice" exemptions from state anticruelty statutes in the U.S.

The background of McLibel is that, in 1991, McDonald's sued two pro se defendants in England for defamation in relation to, among other things, allegations that McDonald's was culpably responsible for cruel common farming practices. The case, known as "McLibel," took seven years. Though McDonald's spent over $16 million on legal representation and had significant legal advantages, it lost major portions of the case, including the issue of animal cruelty. David Wolfson will discuss the background and holding of "McLibel" in relation to cruel common farming practices, its unique legal context, and the impact of the holding on animal law in general and state anti-cruelty laws in the United States. In addition, he will explore the contradiction that "McLibel" exposes: the fact that a common farming practice can be found to be cruel in the view of a reasonable person while legal pursuant to an anti-cruelty statute.

David J. Wolfson is a partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, the author of "McLibel" in Animal Law, the author of "Beyond the Law: Agribusiness and the Systemic Abuse of Animals Raised for Food or Food Production" and the co-author of "Foxes in the Hen House: Animals, Agribusiness and the Law, A Modern American Fable" in Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions by Cass R. Sunstein (Editor) and Martha Craven Nussbaum (Editor).  Mr. Wolfson also taught animal law at Harvard Law School and Yale Law School.

You can read David Wolfson's "McLibel" article in the journal Animal Law here.  The citation to the article is 5 Animal L. 21.

For more information on how the "customary farming practices" exemption to many state anticruelty statutes gives the farming industry complete authority to decide what is "humane" to farm animals, you can also read Mr. Wolfson's "Foxes in the Hen House" article by clicking here. 

Wayne Pacelle: "The Animal Protection Movement: Legal Policy, Science, and Sociology"

On November 17, 2004, the Animal Law Society held an evening lecture featuring Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The Humane Society of the United States is the biggest animal advocacy group in the nation, and represents more than eight million members and constituents and has an annual budget in excess of $80 million. The HSUS maintains active programs in companion animals and equine protection, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, farm animals and sustainable agriculture, and national and international humane education and environmental protection.

 

Mr. Pacelle graduated from Yale in 1987. In addition to being CEO of HSUS, he is co-founder and former chairman of Humane USA, a non-partisan organization that works to elect humane-minded candidates to political office. He is one of the nationŐs leading advocates of social reforms to benefit animals. He has been instrumental in passing countless state and more than a dozen federal animal protection laws, and has won 17 of the 22 state ballot initiatives with which he has been involved. 

 
Sheldon Eisenberg, Esq.:"Standing for Animals"
 
On March 1, 2005, Sheldon Eisenberg from the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP discussed the issue of standing, which is rather unique
in animal law.  The issue is important because animals do not have standing and animal advocates usually do not, either. Mr. Eisenberg has
successfully litigated a case concerning California's Humane Slaughter Act and a case involving "downed" animals, both of which raised difficult
standing issues implicated in the protection of farm animals. "Downed animal" is an industry term describing non-ambulatory livestock, which
collapse usually for unknown reasons, and are too sick to stand back up. In addition to inhumane and cruel treatment of these animals by the
animal food industry, downed livestock may pose a grave threat to human health when circulated into the food supply.  
 
Mr. Eisenberg also discussed his most recent project, which involves the use of California Business and Professions Code section 17200.  
He also discussed the issue of standing under that statute, as affected by Proposition 64.

 

2003-2004 lectures:

Terri Macellaro, Esq.: "Current Issues in Animal Law"

On November 17, 2003 the Animal Law Society held a daytime lecture with an audience of law students, including those who had never considered animal issues before.  This was part of the SocietyŐs efforts to expand the pool of people interested in animal welfare, by drawing in students who did not have a preexisting interest in animal law.  The Society was able to meet this goal by providing pizza at the lecture during lunch time.  Terri Macellaro, Esq., a partner from the law firm of Christensen Miller, spoke on a broad range of topics facing Animal Law.  These topics included the history of animal law, as well as pro bono animal cases that Ms. Macellaro had worked on.

Julie Greenfield, Esq.: "Exotic Newcastle Disease and Due Process"

On February 19, 2004, the Animal Law Society held a nighttime lecture with an audience of law students and practicing attorneys.  Julie Greenfield, Esq., spoke about the mass killing of birds in response to the poultry industry's concerns about Exotic Newcastle Disease. Ms. Greenfield spoke about the legal basis for ending the mass killing, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 5 million birds, without regard to whether they were infected with END. Joining Ms. Greenfield was a biologist who spoke about the pathological aspects of END and members of bird societies who gathered information and spread the word to others that there were legal means of resisting the seizure and killing of the birds.

Mindy Kursban, Esq.: "The Freedom of Information Act and Animals"

On March 16, 2004, the Animal Law Society held a nighttime lecture with an audience of law students and practicing attorneys.  Mindy Kursban, Esq., Chief Legal Counsel for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, spoke about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  FOIA is the means by which animal advocates try to obtain public records that reveal information about activities that involve animals and that are engaged in or supported by government.  Ms. Kursban was representing PCRM in a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health, alleging that NIH impermissibly redacted information from an animal experimenter's grant application.   FOIA is useful in a variety of contexts that involve government inspections of facilities or government involvement in assessing situations that involve animals.  However, government frequently throws up roadblocks to attaining information.  Ms. Kursban discussed some of those roadblocks and how to dismantle them!

 

2002-2003 lectures (held as the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund):

Dr. Jennifer Conrad and Professor Taimie Bryant: "The Paw Project: The Legal Future of Non-Curative Surgeries"

On October 29, 2002, SALDF presented a lecture by two distinguished speakers, Dr. Jennifer Conrad and Professor Taimie Bryant. Dr. Conrad and Professor Bryant discussed the cruelty inflicted by non-curative surgical procedures on domestic and wild animals, and how the law may be used to prohibit such cruelty.  Professor Bryant discussed the legal drafting process and why specific language was chosen by the Paw Project team.  Dr. Conrad is the founder of The Paw Project, which rehabilitates big cats that have been maimed by the cruel practice of de-clawing. Professor Bryant became involved in this issue when she coordinated a legal drafting team that developed language to ban non-curative de-clawing of all animals. Professor Bryant teaches Animal Law at UCLA and, at the time of the lecture, was SALDF's faculty advisor.

Tom Rider and Jill Buckley, Esq.: "Circuses: Recent Legal Challenges and Evolving Standards of Animal Cruelty"

On November 14, 2002, SALDF presented a panel presentation featuring Tom Rider, former circus employee and Jill Buckley, Esq., counsel to ASPCA in its Government Affairs division.  As a former employee for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Mr. Rider witnessed first-hand the systematic, daily beatings suffered by endangered Asian elephants at the hands of trainers as they were forced to travel and perform.  Due to the abuse, he quit his position at Ringling and began speaking out to encourage the protection of elephants in the circus.  Mr. Rider, along with animal welfare organizations such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), has been instrumental in bringing suit against Ringling Brothers under the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits the harming of any animals that is listed as being endangered.  At the time of the lecture, the lawsuit was pending in the D.C. Circuit for the U.S. Court of Appeals.  Ms. Buckley was responsible for drafting and monitoring animal welfare legislation, as well as lobbying to promote the passage or defeat of a bill.  At the time of the lecture, Ms. Buckley was involved with a campaign to encourage the city of Huntington Beach to pass an ordinance prohibiting the use of exotic animals in circuses.

Carol J. Adams: "The Pornography of Meat"

On April 24, 2003, SALDF, in association with the Animal Issues Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, presented a lecture and slide show by acclaimed author and activist, Carol J. Adams.  Ms. Adams is the author of the groundbreaking book The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory, and many other scholarly books and articles focusing on the connection between feminism, animal rights, and vegetarianism.  Ms. Adams' slide show was a thought-provoking and challenging presentation that discussed how images of women and animals in popular culture foster oppressive attitudes against both women and animals. It also suggested forms of resistance against the construction of individuals, human or non-human, as "meat."

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Directions to UCLA:
405 to Sunset Blvd (headed east, toward UCLA)
Sunset Blvd to Hilgard Ave (turn right, heading south)
Hilgard Avenue to Wyton (turn right, heading west)
There will be a parking booth directly in front of you.
The Law School Building is directly south of that booth.  The parking booth
attendant will direct you to the nearest parking lot.  Please allow about 10
minutes to find your way from the parking lot to the location of the lecture in the Law School
Building.

Please join us! 

Please e-mail us at uclaals@lawnet.ucla.edu with any questions.

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