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October 2008
GW Law Project Challenges, Changes Animal Welfare Laws
By Julia Parmely Led by D.C. Councilwoman and Professor of Law Mary Cheh and Associate Professor of Law Joan Schaffner, GW’s Animal Welfare Pro Bono Project seeks to raise awareness and promote legislative changes to advance animal welfare in the District of Columbia. Since its inception, approximately 100 law students have participated in the project, researching all aspects of animal welfare, including existing and proposed regulations across the nation, enforcement issues, and possibilities for reform. In July, thanks to the project’s efforts, the D.C. Council passed some of the nation’s strongest animal protection laws with the Animal Protection Amendment Act of 2008. In August, Cheh received the Humane Legislator Award from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for her work promoting animal welfare, including her introduction of the bill. While the original legislation, last amended in 1981, covered basic animal welfare laws, Cheh and Schaffner advocated for more targeted regulations to protect both pets and their owners. The resulting amendment includes additional safeguards against dangerous dogs, adds domestic animals to disaster plans, and bans the use of sheltered animals in research. It also addresses the link between animal cruelty and human violence by allowing victims of domestic abuse to seek protection from abusers based on an adequate showing of animal cruelty, authorizing the inclusion of pets in protective orders, requiring reports of animal abuse to be cross-referenced with reports of child or domestic abuse, and authorizing counseling for anyone convicted of animal cruelty. “Animals do not have a natural champion and are often overlooked,” says Cheh. “We need to realize we are not above animals but that we live among them and that their welfare is up to us.” The road to the new legislation began in 2004 when professors and students spent a year researching animal welfare laws in the District and nearby jurisdictions and creating suggestions for reform for a presentation to local council members. Schaffner says project members held meetings with local animal welfare organizations, including the Washington Humane Society, the Washington Animal Rescue League, Alley Cat Allies, and the D.C. Department of Health. The students also organized a symposium that enabled local animal welfare organizations to brainstorm ideas for the legislation together. In 2005, D.C. Councilman David A. Catania asked the group to draft new legislation. The students spent the next two years furthering their research and drafting legislation. “I am proud that we were able to have a positive impact on the District’s laws and provide better protection to all District residents, animals and humans alike,” says Schaffner. The success of the project led to the creation of the GW Animal Law Program, which now includes two animal law seminars, a partnership with the HSUS, co-directed by the society’s vice president, Jonathan Lovvorn, in which students work alongside attorneys in the HSUS’s Animal Protection Litigation Department, and a very active student organization, the GW Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Schaffner says the project also impacted her personal life. She now volunteers with the Washington Humane Society and is currently fostering cats and kittens while taking care of her own pets: cats, a Jack Russell terrier, and an African grey parrot. “My professional and personal life has changed quite dramatically since 2004 and I have never been happier,” she says. “I think projects like this are fantastic opportunities for students and faculty to work on issues that directly affect the District,” she says. “Both students and faculty gain experience, and students realize that at the end of the day they really can change a law.”
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