School would recognize that. Validation like thatwill push animal law forward even faster.”

“Animal law” can be defined as the body ofstatutory and case law related to non-human ani-mals. It’s a fast-expanding field, as is demonstrat-ed by the variety of topics covered in the confer-ence’s keynote addresses and panel discussions:animals and trust law, judicial recognition of ani-mals’ inherent interests, non-economic damages(i.e., pain and suffering) in lawsuits related tokilled or injured companion animals and more.

According to Yale Law School ProfessorHarold Koh, who became the law school’s deanearlier this year, that wide array of dynamic issues

ALDF and Yale team up for agroundbreaking conference

Holding a conference on legal issues atthe respected Yale Law School inNew Haven, Conn., is like playing aconcert in Carnegie Hall. It says

you’ve made it.So congratulations are in order for the animal

law field. Thanks to a recent ALDF conference,it has arrived.

This November, attorneys, law students andlaw professors from across the country cametogether at Yale Law School for The Future ofAnimal Law, a conference exploring how U.S.law is evolving to reflect Americans’ changingattitudes about animals. Sponsored by ALDF andYale’s Student Animal Legal Defense Fund(SALDF) chapter, the conference drew 230 par-ticipants for two days of intensive discussionfocusing on important animal law issues.

“I think the size of the conference surprised alot of people – even I was surprised,” says lawstudent Jennifer Sperling, president of Yale’sSALDF chapter and (along with fellow SALDFmember Bonita Meyersfeld) a key organizer forthe event. “It was fantastic to realize there are somany practitioners and academics engaging withthese issues nationwide.”

One person who wasn’t surprised by the wide-spread interest in the conference was ALDFExecutive Director Joyce Tischler.

“We’ve seen rapid growth in the number ofanimal law courses and SALDF chapters acrossthe nation, so we know that animal law is gainingground fast,” she says. “We’re tremendouslypleased that a prestigious institution like Yale Law

Winter 2004Volume 23 Number 3

A NEWSLETTER FOR SUPPORTERS OF THE ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND

INSIDE:

StudentALDFChaptersBooming

See Page 4

School Ties

Continued on page 4

Yale Law School openedits doors to dozens of

animal advocates

2

Winter 2004

Justice for Animals Is Comin’ to TownThe holidays are traditionally a time when we look back to the past. We watch old movies (It’s

a Wonderful Life, White Christmas), sing old songs (“Jingle Bells,” “Auld Lang Syne”), thinkof old friends and remember happy times with loved ones we’ve lost.

But right now I’m not dwelling on the past. I’m thinking about the future. And it makes mefeel a little bit like a kid on Christmas Eve. There’s something good – even magical – on the way.And it’s a lot better than a bunch of new toys.

It’s justice.How can I be so sure? Well, remember in “A Christmas Carol” when Ebenezer Scrooge is visited

by the scariest apparition of them all, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? I’m no Scrooge, butI did get a similar visit a few weeks before the holiday season began. It was early November, and Iwas in New Haven, Conn., for ALDF’s animal law conference at Yale Law School. (See page 1.)While I was there, I was visited by the Ghost of Animal Law Yet to Come. And he wasn’t scary atall. Quite the opposite – the things he showed me were tremendously exciting.

I saw new legal strategies for helping animals being developed and implemented. I saw impor-tant precedents established acknowledging animals’ inherent individual interests. I saw a growingacceptance of animal law in America’s law schools and courts. And I saw a whole new generationof animal advocates coming together to share ideas and inspiration – then moving on to do some-thing with them.

At the end of “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge is a changed man. After taking a look at his ownfuture – in which he dies unmourned, having never touched another life in a positive way – heopens his heart to those around him. He vows to make a difference in the world, and through thathe finds happiness at last.

Of course, those of us who are fighting to protect animals from cruelty aren’t in need of aScrooge-like transformation at all. We’re already making a difference. And we’re going to be mak-ing even more of a difference in the years ahead as the influence of animal law continues to spread.

I hope reading about ALDF’s conference at Yale Law School gives you a glimpse of the futureI’ve seen. It’s a future we can all look forward to – a future when “peace on earth, goodwill towardmen” includes true goodwill toward animals.

Sincerely,

Steve Ann Chambers

For the RECORD

“Once thedomain solely ofactivists, animallaw has steadilygained respectamong lawschools and legalscholars...[Aware-ness of abuse]appears to begrowing, as morecases of animalcruelty are beingprosecuted.”

—Time magazine (in the article “Woof,Woof, Your Honor,”December 13, 2004)

“The laws are notstringent enough,and unfortunatelythe laws that wedo have are notnecessarily en-forced. If we canget more and moreyoung lawyers tobe aware of this,then if they’reinvolved in a casethat involves ani-mals, they’ll knowwhat to do.”

—Bob Barker, explaining why he’s giving $1 million to

support the teaching ofanimal law at Duke

Law School

Letterfrom thePRESIDENT

New Program TakesAction Against AbuseEvery day, ALDF attorneys work to keep ani-

mal abusers off the streets and away fromnew victims. And now ALDF’s going to get thegeneral public into the act. Through a newlylaunched program called ACT – the Anti-Cruel-ty Team – concerned citizens across the countrywill be able to join our fight against animal abuse.

An outgrowth of the Actionline Bulletinupdates in The Animals’ Advocate and on theALDF website, ACT will keep animal guardiansinformed when new cruelty cases arise. After join-ing the team via the website, ACT members willreceive e-mailed action alerts with contact infor-mation for prosecutors and judges handling cru-elty cases. The ACT e-mailing list will also beused to gather activists on a regional level, since alarge turnout for a court date or sentencing hear-ing can reinforce that the community is watchingand won’t tolerate animal abuse – or lenient treat-ment of abusers.

“We know ALDF members feel very, verystrongly about stamping out cruelty to animals, sowe thought they’d like the chance to get involvedthemselves,” says Anti-Cruelty Division DirectorPamela Frasch. “Through this new program, theycan help us apply that extra pressure that canmake a big difference in an animal abuse case.”

If you’re ready to get involved, go towww.aldf.org and click the ACT link.

Congress Sells OutWild Horses, Burros

In a move even the ultra-conservative Wash-ington Times blasted as a “bit of bad pork,”

Montana Senator Conrad Burns slipped lan-guage into a huge spending measure (Appro-priations Bill HR 4818) that stripped wildhorses of their last remaining protections underthe law. The new provision legalized therounding-up and selling of wild horses andburros “without limitation.” In other words,Burns gave Western ranchers what they’ve beenhoping to get for years: The go-ahead to utter-ly destroy wild herds and grab publicly ownedgrazing land for their own cattle. In the mean-time, more wild horses will be taken off therange and sent to slaughterhouses – and, fromthere, to the restaurants and butcher shops ofEurope and Asia.

But though President Bush signed the billinto law in November, the battle’s not over yet.Here are three things you can do to help:

➤ Contact your Congressional representatives(by going to www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html on the Web) anddemand that they support the AmericanHorse Slaughter Prevention Act (HR857 and S 2352), a bill that would stopthe killing of horses in the U.S. forhuman consumption abroad.

➤ Write to Senator Burns (at http://burns.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAc-tion=Home.Contact) and the MontanaPromotion Division (at P.O. Box200533, Helena, MT 59620-0533) andlet them know you won’t be spendingyour tourist dollars in their state.

➤Adopt wild horses and burros througha program of the Bureau of Land Manage-ment (https://www.adoptahorse.blm.gov/).

“Congress once passed legislationdescribing wild horses and burros as ‘liv-ing symbols of the historic and pioneerspirit of the West,’” says ALDF Execu-tive Director Joyce Tischler. “It’s heart-breaking to see the federal governmenttoss those symbols aside so callously.Now it’s up to us to ensure that free-roaming horses and burros have a placeon the open range.”

3Animal Legal Defense Fund

BRIEFS…

Aveterinarian in Washington County, Ore., has been charged with six counts ofanimal neglect following forfeiture of six horses who are so severely malnour-

ished that it is nearly impossible to guess their ages. Susan Matlock, DVM, is accused of locking the former show horses inside a dark,

unventilated barn and forcing them to eat their own waste and wood from the stallsto survive. Rescue workers report that the horses had many parasites and skin infec-tions, and their eyes had gone flat from dehydration. One horse, named Pete, couldhardly walk when rescued and needed $6,000 surgery due to an untreated abscessedwound which led to an extremely painful condition called septic arthritis.

Matlock has been suspended from her work at Banfield Pet Hospital in Hillsboro,Ore. On October 18, she plead innocent to the charges, and her trial has been sched-uled for February 16, 2005.

To urge the prosecutor to ask for an order prohibiting Matlock (if convicted) fromowning or harboring horses again, sentencing her to mandatory psychiatric treatmentand requiring her to pay restitution for all medical costs, write a polite letter to:

Sarah AllenWashington County DA’s Office150 N. First Avenue, Ste. 300Hillsboro, OR 97124-3072Fax: 503-846-3407

Veterinarian Charged With Animal Neglect

PHO

TO

BY ST

EPH

EN

FAR

LEY

4

Winter 2004

this conference along with the Animal LegalDefense Fund. As increasing attention is focusedon the growing body of laws surrounding animalrights, practitioners and scholars [welcomed] thisopportunity to discuss cutting-edge legal issueswith the foremost experts in this field.”

Among the many leading animal law and ani-mal protection experts who took part in the con-ference were Tischler; ALDF President SteveAnn Chambers; Steven M. Wise, author of Rat-tling the Cage and Drawing the Line; WaynePacelle, president and CEO of the HumaneSociety of the United States; Paul Leonard,director of the Center for Animal Law & Advo-cacy and former lieutenant governor of Ohio;David Wolfson, adjunct professor of law at Har-vard Law School; David Favre, professor of lawat Michigan State University College of Law;and Josh Marquis, district attorney of ClatsopCounty, Ore. ALDF staff members – includingAnti-Cruelty Division Director Pamela Frasch,Director of Legislative Affairs Stephan Otto andStaff Attorney Dana Campbell – presentedpapers exploring the impact of felony animalcruelty laws, providing comprehensive guidanceto prosecutors handling animal abuse cases andoffering a broad overview of state animal lawsacross the country. Animal Law Program Direc-tor Steve Wells also led an interactive session onopportunities for attorneys and law students inthe field of animal law.

“This was the most informative and best-orga-

– and the amount of serious attention they’vebeen given both in academia and the court sys-tem – is what made an animal law conference soappealing to him and his colleagues.

“Animal law is a vibrant emerging field,” saysKoh, who delivered the conference’s closingremarks. “Yale Law School [was] pleased to host

Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh

School Tiescontinued from front page

Yale isn’t the only law school where students are taking a biginterest in animal law. The Student Animal Legal Defense

Fund (SALDF), the ALDF offshoot for law students who wantto learn more about the newly emerging legal specialty, added18 new chapters this year. That brings the total number ofSALDF chapters up to 57, an all-time high.

Law students at the University of Baltimore, the Universityof Miami, Canada’s McGill University and other schools haveformed new SALDF chapters. Now — like SALDF membersat Georgetown Law School, Stanford Law School, Northwest-ern Law School and other prestigious institutions — they’llgather regularly to discuss animal law and organize events thatdraw attention to animal issues. This fall, for instance, SALDFmembers at Yale Law School helped organize the Future ofAnimal Law conference. And this past spring, SALDF mem-bers at Harvard Law School teamed up with the National Cen-ter for Animal Law to host the first annual National AnimalAdvocacy Competitions.

“We’ve never seen so much SALDF activity before, and allindications are it’s going to get even busier still,” says SteveWells, director of ALDF’s Animal Law Program. “We’ve neverseen such a motivated, energetic group of students.”

One of those energetic students is Jennifer Sperling. Cur-rently in her third year at Yale Law School, Sperling plans todevote her career to animal law upon graduation. Though sheacknowledges that SALDF isn’t as ubiquitous as certain othercampus organizations, she thinks that could change in theyears ahead.

“Maybe we don’t have as much strength in numbers as somegroups yet,” she says, “but the passion of our members for theissues keeps us moving forward.”

SALDF was founded in 1993. From one chapter (on thecampus of the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis andClark College in Oregon), the program quickly spread acrossthe country. Today it can be found in 29 states and twoCanadian provinces.

“We envisioned SALDF as a way to reach out to law stu-dents who are sympathetic to animal protection issues butmight not be aware of animal law,” says ALDF ExecutiveDirector Joyce Tischler. “It’s been a true joy for us to see howmany students have embraced the program. These are the ani-mal advocates of the future. Hopefully, through SALDF, we’regiving them some of the tools they’ll need to build a betterworld for animals through the law.”

SALDF Tops 50 Chapters

5Animal Legal Defense Fund

nized conference I’ve attended,” says attorney Jen-nifer Dietz, a founding member of the FloridaBar Association’s Animal Law Committee. “Thepanels, the speeches – it was all without compar-ison. I definitely feel like I learned how to practiceanimal law better.”

For attorney Bruce Wagman, who teachescourses in animal law at Hastings College of Law,UC Berkeley – Boalt Hall and USF Law School,one speech in particular had special meaning.

“I was excited to hear Dean Koh discuss ani-mal law and endorse it as an important new areaof the law deserving of further exploration, edu-cation and exposure,” says Wagman, who becameALDF’s new litigation counsel a few weeks afterthe conference. (See page 8.) “That was the high-light of the conference for me.”

Attorney Patti Bednarik, on the other hand,picked a different set of highlights from her con-ference experience: the many opportunities shehad to meet, greet and pick the brains of like-minded animal advocates.

“The networking opportunities were wonder-ful,” says Bednarik, who started the PennsylvaniaBar Association’s Animal Law Committee. “It wasreally helpful to learn what other attorneys aredoing in other states to promote favorable animallegislation and case law.”

According to ALDF Animal Law ProgramDirector Steve Wells, providing those kinds ofnetworking opportunities was one of the primemotivations behind the conference.

“Journals, newsletters and e-mail lists are allfine ways to disseminate ideas, but nothing cancompare with face-to-face meetings,” he says.“There’s a special magic that can be sparked whenyou bring people together – you have people notjust sharing information, but forming friendships

and strategic partnerships. I think we’ll be seeingdividends [of that] from this conference for along, long time.”

What we’ll also see for a long, long time is thecontinued growth of animal law. As The Futureof Animal Law demonstrated, the field has abright future indeed.

“The turnout for the conference, the enthusi-asm of everyone involved, Yale Law School’s sup-port – I think it all sends a message,” says Tis-chler. “Animal advocates aren’t on the fringe.We’re on the cutting edge. The rest of the legalworld is catching up, and that’s a wonderful thingto see.”

Michigan State Universitylaw students Leslie

Sauerbrey (left) andSarah Lynn Babcock

SALDF member BonitaMeyersfeld (left) withALDF staffers Steve Wellsand Liberty Mulkani

“Animal advocates aren’ton the fringe.We’re on the cutting edge.”

6

Winter 2004

SALDF alums turn theirknowledge into action

It’s all well and good that the Student AnimalLegal Defense Fund is growing by leaps andbounds. (See “SALDF Tops 50 Chapters,”

page 4.) But that’s academia. What about thereal world?

Well, SALDF is having an impact there, too.Because the students who’ve built SALDF into anationwide network don’t leave their idealsbehind when they graduate from law school.They carry those ideals with them – along with alaw degree to back them up.

The result? Lawyers like Amy Breyer, MelissaBonfiglio, Chris Wencker and Laura IrelandMoore – attorneys who are carrying animal lawinto the mainstream of the American legal system.

AMY BREYERAmy Breyer had been

enjoying a successful careeras a television news writerand producer when shecame across a story thatwould drastically changeher career. She was readinga wire story about a manwho had been convicted ofanimal cruelty and she sud-denly realized that shewanted to be the one con-victing this man for hiscrime, not merely the per-son telling the story. Thusbegan Amy Breyer’s careerin animal law.

While attending North-western University Schoolof Law in Chicago, Breyerstarted an SALDF chapter

that hosted events such as speakers’ series,fundraisers for the Anti-Cruelty Society and peti-tion signing for animal causes. The SALDF chap-ter was very well received by the law schooladministration and continues to flourish. TodayBreyer focuses her legal career on animal law. (Tolearn more about Breyer and her Chicago-basedpractice, visit her online at www.animallawonline.net.) The advice she offers law studentswith an interest in animal law is clearly adviceshe’s taken to heart herself.

“Do what you love,” she says.

MELISSA BONFIGLIOMelissa Bonfiglio had a lot of choices when it

came to the law school she would attend. Butshe chose UCLA Law School for one veryimportant reason: She knew she’d find like-minded people there – people who took animalissues very seriously.

Bonfiglio knew that for two reasons: She’dalready met (and felt deeply inspired by) UCLAanimal law professor Taimie Bryant, and agroup of UCLA students had been hosting ananimal law lecture series. There was only onething missing – an SALDF chapter. So Bonfigliostarted one.

Bonfiglio felt that a new SALDF chapterwould help spread awareness (and acceptance) ofanimal law. The law school administration wasvery supportive of the idea, and pretty soon therewas enough student interest to organize severalsubstantial projects. The UCLA SALDF groupsponsored the Bohnett Animal Law LectureSeries, published a vegetarian/vegan dining guide,held a seminar on legislative research and con-ducted annual legislative analysis projects.Though all these activities catered to studentswith an interest in helping animals, Bonfigliostrove to welcome people with a variety of viewsto their presentations and seminars in an effort toeducate a broader audience about animal protec-tion issues.

Bonfiglio now works for a large firm in Irvine,Calif. Although her legal practice doesn’t focus onanimal law, she is drawing on her SALDF experi-ence: She recently began working with an attor-ney from the firm’s Washington, D.C., office ona pro bono animal law project.

Class Acts

7Animal Legal Defense Fund

CHRIS WENCKERWhen Chris Wencker started his legal studies

at the University of Arizona, he was unaware thatthe field of animal law even existed. He’d beenstudying environmental law and questioning whythe curriculum didn’t focus more on wildlife whenhis girlfriend (now fiancée) suggested that he finda way to “do something for the animals.” Aftersome research on the Web, Wencker contactedALDF about bringing SALDF to U of A.

According to Wencker, some of his fellow lawstudents weren’t sure what to make of theSALDF group at first. One student even asked,“Are you trying to get my dog the right to vote?”Despite such responses, the SALDF chapter wasable to establish a strong and dedicated group ofstudents who worked on a variety of projects.The chapter started a holiday companion animal-sitting program, hosted an animal lawdiscussion with ALDF board member StephanieNichols-Young and raised enough money tosend two students to the 9th Annual AnimalLaw Conference in Portland, Ore.

From his participation with SALDF, Wenckersays he gained the “motivation to make animallaw part of (his) practice.” He now works for afirm which handles a variety of cases, some ofwhich are animal related. He also sits on theboard of directors for a local animal welfareumbrella organization and is involved with theArizona Bar Animal Law Section.

Wencker’s advice for current SALDF memberscan be boiled down to one word: learn.

“Learn as much as you can about how the var-ious fields of law conceptualize and deal with ani-mals,” he says. “Learn about animal laws at local,state, national and international levels.”

LAURA IRELAND MOORELaura Ireland Moore has been an activist since

junior high, when a camp counselor inspired herto get involved with animal issues. Choosing apath she hoped would lead her to “influencemore effective changes for animals,” Mooreenrolled at Lewis and Clark College of Law, thebirthplace of the first SALDF chapter as well asthe acclaimed journal Animal Law.

Moore’s experience with SALDF includedhelping to organize projects such as the annualAnimal Law Conference and speakers’ series,volunteering with local animal shelters and pro-viding research for local animal law attorneys.For Moore, the SALDF chapter provided anopportunity to meet people with similar inter-ests and work on animal law projects while alsoproviding a constant “reminder of why it was soimportant to survive classes such as Civil Proce-dure and Contracts.”

Since passing the bar in 2001, Moore has beenenjoying her two dream jobs: one as executivedirector of the National Center for Animal Lawand the other as an animal law attorney withGeordie Duckler, LLC.

“Follow your heart,” Moore advises today’slaw students. “As long as you stay true to yourbeliefs, are willing to make a few sacrifices and bea little creative, you can find a way to incorporateanimal law into your life. The animals need youto make your dream of working in animal lawcome true.”

To see a full list of law schools with SALDF chapters(as well as animal law courses), go to www.aldf.org/students.asp?sect=resources on the World Wide Web.If you’re a law student with an interest in starting anew SALDF chapter at your school, ALDF’s LibertyMulkani can help you. She can be contacted atlmulkani@aldf.org.

These attorneysare carrying animal law intothe mainstreamof the Americanlegal system.

ALDF has beefed up its litigation muscle bynaming longtime animal advocate (and

ALDF ally) Bruce Wagman the organization’s newdirector of litigation. Wagman will use his exten-sive legal expertise to strengthen ALDF’s efforts tohelp animals through the court system.

As part of his new position, Wagman will iden-tify and research cases, write briefs, collaboratewith outside counsel, file suits and argue forincreased animal protections in court. A partner atMorgenstein & Jubelirer in San Francisco, he willcontinue his work with the firm while handlinglitigation on behalf of ALDF.

“We couldn’t have found a better lawyer forthe job,” says ALDF Executive Director JoyceTischler. “Bruce has been a huge help to us oncase after case, so it only made sense to officiallybring him in-house sooner or later. We’retremendously excited to have him on board inthis position.”

Since 1994, Wagman has been an adjunct pro-fessor at Hastings College of the Law, where he

teaches courses in Animal Law and insurance law.Wagman also teaches Animal Law courses at UCBerkeley — Boalt Hall and USF Law School. Heis the co-author of Animal Law, the first casebookpublished for Animal Law courses in law schools.His work has also been published in the HastingsLaw Journal and in the University of San Francis-co Law Journal. He is a 1991 magna cum laudegraduate of Hastings College of the Law, wherehe received American Jurisprudence Awards intorts, property, contracts, civil procedure and fed-eral courts and was an articles editor on the Hast-ings Law Journal. He served as judicial clerk tothe Honorable William H. Orrick of the UnitedStates District Court for the Northern District ofCalifornia from 1991 to 1992 and as an extern tothe Honorable James Browning of the Ninth Cir-cuit Court of Appeals in 1990.

“This is my dream job — fighting to changethe way the world looks at and treats animalswith people who share my vision,” Wagmansays. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDTucson, AZ

Permit No. 3341

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is a nonprofit organization funded almost entirely byindividual, tax-deductible contributions. If you would like more information about ourwork, are interested in joining or wish to notify us of a change of address, write to theaddress above, or call (707) 769-7771.

Joyce Tischler Executive DirectorSteve Ann Chambers President

NEWSLETTER STAFF

Steve Hockensmith EditorStephen Farley Design Newsletter Design

David S. FavreChair

Sonia S. WaismanVice ChairSarah H. LuickSecretary

Robert L. TrimbleTreasurer

DirectorsKatie M. BrophyPaul Leonard

Joshua MarquisStephanie Nichols-YoungKatharina Otto-BernsteinCheryl Teser

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Animal Legal Defense Fund127 Fourth Street, Petaluma, CA 94952-3005

http://www.aldf.org

Wagman to Spearhead ALDF Litigation➤ Animal Law at Yale

page 1

➤ Program Targets Abuserspage 3

➤ Vet Accused of Neglectpage 3

➤ Student ALDF Grows Fastpage 4

IN THIS ISSUE

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