Animal Law

Our Hen House Podcasts
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Animal Law Podcast

Join Animal Law professor and longtime activist Mariann Sullivan as she unpacks the latest updates, cases, and news from the burgeoning world of animal law. Mariann will be joined by the leaders in the field, and will offer her own insightful (and sometimes biting) commentary. 912842

  1. Animal Law Podcast #111: A Lamb to the (Botched) Slaughter

    AUG 28

    Animal Law Podcast #111: A Lamb to the (Botched) Slaughter

    Two lawyers who are at the forefront of some of the new directions in which animal law is developing join us once again on this episode. Will Lowrey of Animal Partisan and Chris Carraway of the University of Denver’s Animal Activist Legal Defense Project will join me to discuss another innovative and exciting chapter in the effort to use cruelty laws to actually protect farmed animals from cruelty. Imagine that! This time, we are in Colorado, and the subject is the botched slaughter of a lamb — how’s that for horrific? — and we will be discussing their efforts to hold the slaughterhouse accountable under a provision of Colorado law that allows citizens to do something when prosecutors fail to do their job. Will Lowrey is the Legal Counsel for Animal Partisan, a legal advocacy organization focused on challenging unlawful conduct at farms, slaughterhouses, and laboratories. Will previously spent several years as Legal Counsel for Animal Outlook, a national nonprofit farmed animal protection organization, where he divided his time between civil litigation and undercover investigations. Will has engaged in numerous lawsuits, as well as criminal and administrative enforcement actions against the government, industrial agriculture, and research laboratories, including cases involving federal slaughter laws, public records, false advertising, public nuisance, animal cruelty, and others. Will has taught Animal Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Vermont Law and Graduate School, and the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Chris Carraway is an attorney and an activist. Before joining the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, he was a lead attorney in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender. There, Chris defended cases ranging from low-level misdemeanors to first-degree murder, participated in over 60 jury trials, and litigated cases in the Colorado Court of Appeals and Colorado Supreme Court. Chris graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was president of the student chapters for the National Lawyers Guild and the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Before that, Chris began his involvement in animal rights activism in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina­—doing outreach, defendant and prisoner support, and organizing local campaigns against the selling of foie gras and fur. Witnessing the criminalization of animal rights activism in the 00’s compelled him to go to law school. View the full episode with resources here: https://ourhenhouse.org/ALP111/ The Animal Law Podcast is released by the nonprofit organization Our Hen House. Share your thoughts with us on social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (@ourhenhouse).

    57 min
  2. Animal Law Podcast #110: Will JBS Investors Get the Truth about Animals and Climate?

    JUL 31

    Animal Law Podcast #110: Will JBS Investors Get the Truth about Animals and Climate?

    Laura Fox of the Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School and Stijn van Osch of the Humane Society of the United States join us to talk about cows, chickens, pigs, securities law, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Amazon rainforest and some very, very high stakes for animals and for the planet. We’ll be chatting with them about a complaint that was recently filed with the SEC about the efforts of agribusiness mega-giant, JBS, to go public in the US and how it is attempting to comply with the very inconvenient requirements of the SEC that it has to tell the truth to investors. There is a lot to unpack here and even for those of us with little expertise in securities law, this conversation is not only understandable, but incredibly compelling. Laura Fox is a Visiting Professor and the inaugural director of the Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School. Before joining the law school, Prof. Fox was a Senior Staff Attorney at the Humane Society of the United States, focusing on farmed animal protection in HSUS’s Animal Protection Law department. Stijn van Osch is a Michigan attorney who currently works at the Humane Society of the United States as part of its Animal Protection Law team. At HSUS, he focuses on farm animal welfare issues, such as sow housing, cage-free eggs, and organic farm welfare standards. Prior to joining HSUS in 2022, he was Counsel in Latham & Watkins’ DC office, where he specialized in environmental and chemical regulatory law. View the full episode with resources here: https://ourhenhouse.org/ALP110/ The Animal Law Podcast is released by the nonprofit organization Our Hen House. Share your thoughts with us on social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (@ourhenhouse).

    1h 24m
  3. Animal Law Podcast #109: The Case That Didn't Happen

    JUN 26

    Animal Law Podcast #109: The Case That Didn't Happen

    Christopher Carraway and Steffen Seitz of the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project join us on this episode to talk about the case that didn’t happen. Many of you, like me, may have heard about a criminal trial that was supposed to take place back in March in Wisconsin, where three activists affiliated with Direct Action Everywhere, Wayne Hsiung, Paul Picklesimer and Eva Hamer, were charged with felonies resulting from the rescue of several beagles from Ridglan Farms, a notorious facility that breeds dogs for use in research. Suddenly, right before trial, the charges were dropped, and none of us ever heard the full story of what happened. So, now, Chris and Steffen are here to tell us not only about what really happened, but how they and their clients are working to turn the tables and, using a particularly interesting Wisconsin statute, bring criminal charges against Ridglan itself for animal abuse. Chris Carraway is an attorney with the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project. Before joining the AALDP, he was a lead attorney in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender. There, Chris defended cases ranging from low-level misdemeanors to first-degree murder, participated in over 60 jury trials, and litigated cases in the Colorado Court of Appeals and Colorado Supreme Court. Chris graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was president of the student chapters for the National Lawyers Guild and the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Before that, Chris began his involvement in animal rights activism in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina­—doing outreach, defendant and prisoner support, and organizing local campaigns against the selling of foie gras and fur. Witnessing the criminalization of animal rights activism in the 00’s compelled him to go to law school. Chris brings his experience as a defense attorney and his passion for animal rights to the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project. Steffen Seitz is a litigation fellow for the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, where he represents animal advocates and whistleblowers in a variety of proceedings and conducts academic research. Steffen graduated from Yale Law School in May 2023. As a law student, Steffen was a member of the Yale Animal Law Society and a Law Ethics and Animal Program Student Fellow. He also worked as a legal extern on animal activist cases, particularly those involving the right to rescue. Steffen is interested in criminal law, animal law, social movements, and their intersections. View the full episode with resources here: https://ourhenhouse.org/ALP109/ The Animal Law Podcast is released by the nonprofit organization Our Hen House. Share your thoughts with us on social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (@ourhenhouse).

    53 min
  4. Animal Law Podcast #108: The Case of Compelled Dairy Promotion

    MAY 29

    Animal Law Podcast #108: The Case of Compelled Dairy Promotion

    Deborah Dubow Press, an attorney with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, joins us to talk about Williamson v USDA. This case involves both the Los Angeles school system and the USDA’s school lunch program, which influences what kids are eating in virtually every school in the country. We will be looking at some of its insane rules regarding dairy, why our nation’s kids, including lactose intolerant ones, are basically a dumping ground for dairy, and why one student in Los Angeles wasn’t allowed to talk about any of this without also promoting dairy at the same time. It’s totally nuts!! Deborah Dubow Press, Esq., is associate general counsel for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nationwide organization of physicians and laypersons that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition, and addresses controversies in modern medicine, including ethical issues in research. As associate general counsel, Ms. Press crafts policy, legislation, and litigation to advance the Physicians Committee’s mission. She also assesses legal, business, and reputational risks and manages compliance and corporate governance for the organization. View the full episode with resources here: https://ourhenhouse.org/ALP108/ The Animal Law Podcast is released by the nonprofit organization Our Hen House. Share your thoughts with us on social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (@ourhenhouse).

  5. Animal Law Podcast #107: Prosecuting Cruelty

    APR 24

    Animal Law Podcast #107: Prosecuting Cruelty

    Jake Kamins joins us to talk about his groundbreaking work as an Animal Cruelty Resource Prosecutor in the Oregon Department of Justice. This position, which was created very recently, not only allows him to prosecute animal cruelty cases but, perhaps even more importantly, also allows him to act as a kind of roving resource, as his title indicates, to District Attorneys’ offices around the state when they have an animal cruelty case that presents some of the many unusual problems that can arise in prosecuting animal cruelty that don’t generally arise in most of the other cases handled by these offices. This interview presents a lot of insights into those problems as well as what animal cruelty laws cover, what they don’t cover, and how important it is to have people who not only care but who are specially trained to deal with these issues. Jake Kamins is a Senior Assistant Attorney General and Animal Cruelty Resource Prosecutor at the Oregon Department of Justice. Jake has prosecuted hundreds of cases of animal cruelty, and has trained law enforcement, animal services, and animal rescue agencies throughout Oregon and the United States. Jake also teaches the “Crimes Against Animals” class at Lewis & Clark Law School. In 2012, Jake was named one of the nation’s Top Ten Animal Defenders by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. In 2022, Jake received the National Animal Control Association’s Bill Lehman Memorial Award. View the full episode with resources here: https://ourhenhouse.org/ALP107/ The Animal Law Podcast is released by the nonprofit organization Our Hen House. Share your thoughts with us on social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (@ourhenhouse).

    56 min
  6. Animal Law Podcast #106: A Case Farms Case of Cruelty

    MAR 27

    Animal Law Podcast #106: A Case Farms Case of Cruelty

    Sarah Gold of Legal Impact for Chickens joins us to discuss litigation against giant poultry factory Case Farms. As you may know, I am a big fan of efforts to get anti-cruelty laws to do what they were meant to do, that is, protecting animals from cruelty. What a concept! Those efforts can be extraordinarily difficult to mount, and so I was particularly pleased to see that Legal Impact for Chickens is attempting to use North Carolina’s anti-cruelty law to try to help the poor birds who end up in the hands of Case Farms’ huge hatcheries. North Carolina has an unusual law, unusual in good ways and not-so-good ways, and we will be unpacking that law, what its potential might be for North Carolina chickens, what has happened so far in this case, and what comes next. Sarah is a litigator with Legal Impact for Chickens. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Prior to law school, Sarah worked as a shelter intern at Farm Sanctuary. During law school, she served as president of the Animal Law Society, and interned at Mercy for Animals. After graduating, Sarah worked as a litigation associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. She also serves as secretary on the board of Sunset Farms Sanctuary, a farmed animal sanctuary in Arkansas. View the full episode with resources here: https://ourhenhouse.org/ALP106/ The Animal Law Podcast is released by the nonprofit organization Our Hen House. Share your thoughts with us on social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (@ourhenhouse).

    40 min
  7. Animal Law Podcast #105: Breaking the Rules?: Taxpayer-Funded Animal Research Outside the US

    FEB 28

    Animal Law Podcast #105: Breaking the Rules?: Taxpayer-Funded Animal Research Outside the US

    Vanessa Shakib joins me once again, and this time, we will be discussing litigation brought by her client, White Coat Waste Project, about a really extraordinary situation at the National Institutes of Health. As you probably know, the NIH funds massive, massive amounts of research on animals. What you may not know is that much of that research does not take place in the United States but in other countries around the world. And what I certainly did not know until this interview is that the requirements regarding animal care that are imposed on foreign research are actually LESS than those imposed on researchers in the US. Crazy, right? Vanessa Shakib co-founded and co-directs Advancing Law for Animals, a non-profit law firm, where she develops impact litigation to further the interests of animals exploited in research and industrial food production. Her work has been featured by CNN, Fox News, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, USA Today, the Guardian, Science Magazine, and more. Vanessa is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School, and was awarded 2022-2023 SBA Adjunct Professor of the Year. She also continues to consult on a variety of legal matters through her private practice, Shakib Law, PC. View the full episode with resources here: https://ourhenhouse.org/ALP105/ The Animal Law Podcast is released by the nonprofit organization Our Hen House. Share your thoughts with us on social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (@ourhenhouse).

    41 min
  8. Animal Law Podcast #104: The Biogas Nightmare

    JAN 31

    Animal Law Podcast #104: The Biogas Nightmare

    Christine Ball-Blakely of the Animal Legal Defense Fund joins us to discuss the work of a coalition of organizations that has filed petitions for rulemaking regarding the unbelievable subsidization, with your tax money, of “biogas,” aka factory farm gas, which, as far as I am concerned, appears to be an out and out scam to prop up factory farming, hide its worst environmental harms and convince people that it is part of a sustainable future, when it is, in fact, one of the worst causes of climate change. It’s all outrageous but also flying way too far under the radar, as so many stories about the harms of factory farming tend to do, as they are science-y, deliberately hidden away and obfuscated, and, perhaps most important, definitely not what people want to hear. Fortunately, WE want to hear it, and Christine makes it all very comprehensible. As a senior staff attorney at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Christine works to end the exploitation and systemic abuse of farmed animals. She employs environmental laws to hold the factory farming industry—and the government agencies responsible for regulating it—accountable. She believes that, together, we can build a just legal system that prioritizes the protection of animals, the environment, and marginalized communities over private profit. View the full episode with resources here: https://ourhenhouse.org/ALP104/ The Animal Law Podcast is released by the nonprofit organization Our Hen House. Share your thoughts with us on social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@ourhenhouse).

    54 min
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4.7
out of 5
104 Ratings

About

Join Animal Law professor and longtime activist Mariann Sullivan as she unpacks the latest updates, cases, and news from the burgeoning world of animal law. Mariann will be joined by the leaders in the field, and will offer her own insightful (and sometimes biting) commentary. 912842

Information

  • Channel
    Our Hen House Podcasts
  • Creator
    Mariann Sullivan, Law Professor, Pundit, Vegan
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2024
  • Episodes
    111
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2021 Our Hen House. All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Animal Law

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