Lectures and Events

“From the Horse’s Mouth” Animal Law Conference Provides Perspective on Animals, Law and Policy

ormally, when there’s an animal law “Nconference, you get a few lawyers to- gether to talk about their cases,” said Dean Alex Aleinikoff at the start of Georgetown Law’s first-ever conference on animal law. “We’ve broken out of that.” Besides spon- soring a seminar in animal protection litiga- tion, Georgetown Law also offers the only post-graduate animal law fellowship in the country, funding one graduate every year to work on animal protection matters. At the March 27th conference, Sen.

Mary Landrieu, D.-La., Rep. Jim Moran, steve g l a sfor d D-Va., and Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., spoke Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., at Georgetown’s first about animal protection legislation and bar- conference on animal law. riers to it. For example, more than 100,000 logical well-being of primates. “These three Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president and mostly healthy U.S. horses — many of them cases encapsulate what has been a long chief counsel of animal protection litigation stolen or sold unknowingly to people in the evolution of law, providing courts author- and research at the Humane Society of the business of killing them — are believed to ity to supervise the treatment of animals,” United States and an adjunct professor at have been slaughtered in 2006 to supply Vladeck said. the Law Center, said that the conference European and Asian markets with food. And in case you’ve ever wondered what was the latest “piece of the puzzle” in rais- The conference also featured current antitrust law has to do with the price of ing awareness of these issues. “In actuality, and former officials of executive branch eggs, the answer is more than you might animal law is extremely old,” he said, noting agencies who discussed statutes relating think. A panel of economists who have that protections relating to animals can be to horses and burros; two federal judges, evaluated the economic implications of hu- traced back to the Book of Proverbs and Gladys Kessler of the District of Colum- mane public policies discussed an antitrust also to the original legal code for the Mas- bia and Lawrence Kahn of the Northern lawsuit recently filed in federal court in sachusetts Bay Colony. Recent decades, District of New York, who spoke of cases Pennsylvania, alleging that the egg industry however, have seen a huge increase in the involving white-tailed deer and livestock; a engaged in an illegal plan to inflate prices number of statutes, cases and controversies retired FBI agent who discussed the prac- and profits by implementing sham animal over animals. tice of cockfighting; and a veterinarian who welfare guidelines to reduce the supply “It’s still one of the least understood explored the topic of animal forensics. of eggs. The panel also discussed such areas of law,” Lovvorn said. “Animals are In a panel looking at the roles of matters as cage-free eggs (from chickens everywhere, from what we wear to what administrative agencies in animal law, allowed to roam free). we eat to who greets us when we get home Professor David Vladeck discussed three “When it comes to protecting animal at night. … Although the use of animals key cases, one brought by a circus worker welfare, what we hear is that if people care is pervasive in our society, there is also alleging mistreatment of elephants, another about this, then they will buy the products a universal ethic that animals should be urging the Department of Agriculture to that are made in a less cruel way,” said protected from cruelty and abuse. ” fully implement the Horse Protection Act Matt Newman, an economist with Blue The conference was a collaboration (prohibiting the intentional injuring, or Sky Consulting. Still, he noted that econo- between the Law Center and the Humane soring, of a show horse to give it a high- mists don’t have a way of placing a value Society of the United States and made pos- stepping gait) and still another seeking to on an animal that is treated well versus sible by contributions from Bob Barker, the enforce the Animal Welfare Act, requiring one that isn’t. “A happy cow is worth just Glaser Progress Foundation, and Hayward the Department to set forth requirements as much as an unhappy cow, as long as it’s Richard Pressman (L’66) and his wife, for the physical environment and psycho- producing the same profit for the farmer.” Donna Pressman.

16 Fall/Winter 2009 • Georgetown Law