ANIMAL LAW COMMITTEE
- Letter From The Chair -

Meena Alagappan - Committee Chair

I am honored to serve as the fourth Chair of the Animal Law Committee. It has been a privilege to meet and work with so many members and leaders of this Committee, including most notably my predecessors Gilda Mariani, Kristina Hancock and Barbara Gislason. In the past few years, these women have done such an impressive job growing what was only a fledgling committee when Barbara founded it in 2004. They have made the hard work and dedication of our members recognized within the entire Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) by earning four consecutive awards: “Most Innovative Committee” in 2005 and 2006; “Excellence in Increasing the Involvement and Retention of Women” in 2007; and “Exceptional Achievement in Promoting and Achieving Greater Participation and Involvement by Committee Members in the Activities of the Committee and Section” in 2008. Needless to say, they have set the bar very high, but I am optimistic about the upcoming year because I know our membership is at the root of our Committee’s successes and I am truly excited to begin my year collaborating with so many talented individuals.

At the August annual meeting in New York City, the Committee held its second annual awards reception, generously sponsored by the ASPCA. We presented our Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award to Raj Panjwani, an attorney from India and a Committee Vice Chair, who has championed the protection of India’s parks and animals. He is the author of “International Wildlife Law” recently published by ABA TIPS and “Animal Laws in India,” which is a widely used textbook at Indian law schools. We had a number of members attend our annual meeting and I thank you all for your involvement and contagious enthusiasm!

The past year has been an eventful one for the Committee and it accomplished many new goals. In addition to publishing its first book, the Committee held its first two-day national conference in November of 2007 at Duke University Law School in North Carolina entitled “Animals and Bioengineering—A Consideration of Law, Ethics and Science,” which was a huge success. The conference was co-sponsored with the ABA’s Section of Science and Technology, the TIPS’ Intellectual Property Committee and Media, Defamation and Privacy Committee, and Duke University School of Law.

The Committee held its first regional conference, “Prosecuting Reckless Owners and Muzzling Dangerous Dogs: Common Sense Solutions for Politicians and Practitioners,” at New York University Law School in New York City in December of 2007. A broad spectrum of co-sponsors included the TIPS’ Trial Techniques Committee, Law Practice Management Committee and Solo and Small Firm Practitioners Committee, the Animal Farm Foundation, and the New York University Student Animal Legal Defense Fund.

We recently completed our first podcast. The TIPS Enterprise Fund awarded our Committee a $6,000 grant to produce a podcast series called “Insights” covering emerging issues in the practice of animal law. A number of podcasts are currently in development and the first audio file, an interview by former Committee Chair Jill Mariani with former TIPS Chair Peter Bennett entitled “Animal Law—An Idea Whose Time Has Come,” was recently completed and is posted on our website.

The Committee also circulated its first electronic survey to better understand the ideas, interests, and preferences of our members and we are appreciative to those of you who took the time to complete it. I just wanted to highlight a couple of items I thought were particularly interesting. Half of the respondents indicated that they are interested in writing for our newsletter and suggested articles in the areas of dog fighting, humane farming practices, pet trust statutes, updates on litigation affecting animals, and contract law and animals. I encourage all of you to consider writing an article for the newsletter on one of these topics or a new one that you suggest to our Newsletter Editor and Chair Elect, Joan Schaffner. In addition, 90% of the respondents answered that they are not members of any of our subcommittees. I strongly urge members to join our subcommittees and become active in various projects, such as organizing conferences, conducting research, writing articles, tracking legislation, and playing an active role in influencing public policy. You will find specialized subcommittee work to be not only gratifying, but also a wonderful social channel to meet similarly dedicated people. While we are in the process of reorganizing some of our subcommittees, the current substantive ones are: Criminal Law; Dangerous Dogs; Disaster Relief; Endangered Species; Equine Law; Great Apes; Humane Education; Insurance; International Law; Legislation; Linking Animal Abuse and Human Violence; Litigation; Pet Custody; Veterinary Malpractice; Wills and Trusts; and Worker’s Compensation. Please reach out to the chairs of the subcommittees of interest to you.

Lastly, the Committee produced its first informational brochure to assist in expanding and increasing its membership. Our dynamic membership chair, Marianne McDermott, was instrumental in developing our colorful brochure and electronic survey. Please assist us in getting the word out about our Committee and help recruit members both nationally and internationally. You can electronically access our new brochure at http://www.abanet.org/tips/animal/AnimalLawBrochure.pdf. If you would like to distribute printed copies to prospective members, please contact our helpful TIPS Membership Specialist, Linda Wiley, at LMWiley@staff.abanet.org.

As you can see, there are so many ways you can become active on the Animal Law Committee, including: developing or participating in regional, national or international conferences, teleconferences, and webcasts; writing for our newsletter or any of the TIPS publications; expanding our website; contributing to or editing an Animal Law book; participating in public service projects; and recruiting members. There are many plans already underway for the coming year and several of our members are busy at work.

On September 19, 2008, we are holding a regional conference at DePaul University in Chicago from 8am-5pm: “Prosecuting and Representing Animal Abusers and Caring for the Victims-The Michael Vick Case and Its Impact on Cruelty Cases.” This conference will discuss the proceedings of the federal dog fighting case against Michael Vick and his co-defendants and its impact on future cruelty cases. The program is being presented by the TIPS’ Animal Law Committee, Trial Techniques Committee, the ABA Criminal Law Section, and the National Canine Research Council. We have a wide range of sponsors for this program: Valparaiso University School of Law; Animal Farm Foundation; National Canine Research Council; Best Friends Animal Society; Animal Welfare Institute; PetSmart Charities; and DePaul University School of Law. Many thanks to Committee Vice Chair Ledy Van Kavage, who has been tireless in her efforts to organize this program. Committee Vice Chairs Michelle Welch and Rebecca Huss and subcommittee chair Amy Maher will also be participating in this conference as program co-chairs and presenters.

On December 5, 2008 from 8:30am-5pm, we are co-sponsoring a program with the Diversity in the Profession Committee at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida entitled “Providing People with Disabilities and the Elderly Equal Access to Justice.” This program is being co-sponsored along with the TIPS’ General Committees on Health and Disability Insurance Law, Law Practice Management, and Government Law; ABA Judicial Division; ABA Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division; ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law; ABA Criminal Justice Section; ABA Commission on Law and Aging; ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law; ABA Senior Lawyers Division; and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. The conference will focus on providing witnesses, jurors, and attorneys who have a disability or are elderly (including those who have service or emotional support animals) with equal access to justice in the courtroom.

The Committee is making plans for a few other programs as well. First, the Humane Education subcommittee and the Animal Abuse and Human Violence Link subcommittee are collaborating to develop a webcast next year on legal and policy issues related to humane education, including its deterrent value in breaking the cycle of violence toward animals and human beings. Second, Committee Chair Elect Joan Schaffner is also working on developing a possible CLE program: “They Poisoned Our Companions: The Pet Food Recall Case Against Menu Foods.” Third, Committee Chair Elect Designee, Mariann Sullivan, is spearheading our annual program collaborative efforts with various TIPS committees. We are developing a moot court program we plan to co-sponsor with the TIPS’ General Committees on Intellectual Property Law, Appellate Advocacy and Government Law on the patentability of higher life forms, tentatively titled “ The Supreme Court and the Ownership of Life: An Oral Argument.” In addition, we are in discussions with the Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee and Intellectual Property Law Committee about co-sponsoring their annual programs as well.

We will continue to develop our TIPS Animal Law Committee “Insights” Podcasts project, which will include audio interviews on animal law topics, commentaries on emerging and rapidly evolving animal law issues, and creative and traditional ways to involve animal law in your career.

On the publications front, we will remain very busy. We will contribute once again to the Annual Recent Developments issue of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Law Journal, thanks to the efforts of Vice Chairs Adam Karp and Julie Fershtman. We plan to soon publish a book, edited by Joan Schaffner and Julie Fershtman, entitled “ABA TIPS Guide to Litigating Animal Law Disputes.” We also received approval to publish a handbook tentatively titled “ABA TIPS Guide to Handling Dangerous Dog Issues.” We are also grateful to Joan Schaffner, our newsletter Editor, and Associate Editors Becky Silverstein and Stacy Kelly, for all their hard work in putting our newsletters together. Barbara Gislason, our founding Chair, is actually planning an ABA TIPS book on a broad range of animal law issues based in part on selected contributions to our newsletters.

Barbara continues to act as the Director of the ABA TIPS Animal Disaster Relief Network, formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She has also been appointed the TIPS liaison to both the ABA’s Special Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness as well as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The Committee will continue its efforts in the area of disaster relief.

Finally, an important goal of the Animal Law Committee in the upcoming year will be to increase its public service. Given my career in the non-profit sector as Executive Director of HEART (Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers) based in NY, I am especially interested in expanding humane education instruction in our nation’s schools. I am excited to report that with the assistance of TIPS’ Committee Administrator, Sonia Schroeder, the Animal Law Committee, Law in Public Service Committee and HEART are collaborating on a pro bono public service project for elementary school children. Interested ABA member volunteers will be trained by HEART’s instructional staff to offer a four-lesson humane education program for 4th graders designed to cultivate compassion and empathy in our youth toward animals and increase respect for the environment. This pilot project will first be implemented in Washington D.C. and New York City. Volunteers from the NYC Bar Association’s Committee on Legal Issues Pertaining to Animals and the DC Bar’s Animal Law Committee will also assist in implementing this pro bono project. Please contact me if you are interested in becoming involved in this humane education program. For those of you in the DC or NYC areas, I hope you will participate and for those of you living elsewhere, I hope you will assist us in expanding the geographical reach of our public service program over time.

As I see it, all of you are so well poised to be humane educators. Your commitment to the humane treatment of animals, demonstrated by your donation of time and skills to serve the legal needs of animals and their human guardians, is commendable. The volunteer work you do serves as an excellent model for our youth of how they can use the legal system and their concern for animals to make significant contributions on behalf of one of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Thank you for promoting the protection of animals and for inspiring others to do the same.

Very truly yours,

Meena Alagappan
Chair, ABA TIPS Animal Law Committe

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