Animal Law and Policy Institute | Vermont Law and Graduate School (2025)

Overview

Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Animal Law and Policy Institute trains tomorrow’s animal advocacy leaders to advance animals’ legal status through education, scholarship, policy development, community engagement, and litigation. Engaging with advocacy organizations, communities, journalists, and policymakers, the Institute serves as a resource hub for animal law and policy issues.

The Animal Law and Policy Institute is dedicated to supporting aspiring animal advocates through rigorous coursework, rewarding mentorships, as well as real-world trainings and experiences. We collaborate closely with the school’s other leading programs—including environmental law and policy, agriculture and food, and restorative justice—recognizing the interconnections between justice movements, animals, humans, and the environment.

Curriculum

Animal law and policy is a rapidly expanding field with an increasing number of students and employers recognizing and focusing on the interconnection between human, environmental, and animal well-being. Law and graduate students at VLGS benefit from the school’s decades-long history as a pioneer in animal law, its distinguished faculty, robust and active network of alumni in leadership positions, and collaborative programs.

VLGS offers a variety of options for students and advocates interested in taking courses or earning degrees. JD students may choose from a number of specialized courses and clinical opportunities, including the Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic to earn a Concentration in Animal Law residentially or through the animal law track online.

Earning this concentration provides students with the skills and training needed to practice animal protection law, lead animal advocacy organizations, and advance legal protections for animals. Law school graduates and current VLGS students may launch or further their animal advocacy careers with an Animal Law LLM residentially or online. 

Applications are now open for three Animal Law and Policy Fellowships for the 2024-25 school year.

Building upon its long history of training leaders in environmental and animal protection, VLGS recently launched the Master of Animal Protection Policy Program and will welcome the first class in August 2023. VLGS is one of the only schools where graduate students may take law courses, and the MAPP’s innovative curriculum consists of specially tailored graduate-level courses. Earning a MAPP degree will benefit anyone seeking a career related to animal protection, whether in government, community organizing, advocacy organizations, regulatory agencies, academic institutions, or elsewhere.

VLGS also offers animal law and policy courses during each summer session. These two-week and weekend intensive courses are taught by leading scholars and practitioners on cutting-edge topics. They are open to anyone interested in learning more about animal advocacy and provide non-degree seekers and students from other schools an opportunity to participate in our courses and programs.​​​

As with other VLGS courses and degrees, there are opportunities to take animal law and policy courses on campus or online; as part of a residential or online hybrid JD, master’s or joint degree; as a non-degree seeking student; and on a variety timelines. VLGS strives to provide a wide range of opportunities for students and professionals to access our courses and learn how to be effective advocates for animals.

Animal Law and Policy Careers

Launch your career advancing legal protections for animals with a law or graduate degree from VLGS!

Animal law and policy is a rapidly growing field with expanding career pathways. Animal advocates include attorneys, lobbyists, legislative staff in animal advocacy organizations, consultants to nonprofits, animal care professionals, authors, professors, politicians, staff in government agencies, and others. Attorneys advocate for animal interests in civil matters—including animal custody disputes, wrongful death, pet trusts, consumer protection, and veterinary malpractice in specialized firms—as part of their practice, or by providing pro bono services. They protect animals who are victims of crimes in local, state, and federal jurisdictions. Advocates also lobby for more legal protections, expanding regulatory and enforcement efforts through specialized divisions in federal and state departments.

VLGS has long been a leader in the field of animal law and policy, and our graduates have been making a difference in the lives of animals for decades. VLGS alumni have successful animal law practices and hold positions in animal advocacy, wildlife conservation, and environmental protection organizations such as:

• Senior Staff Attorney, Humane Society of the United States
• Captive Animal Law Enforcement Counsel, PETA Foundation
• Founder, Animal Law Source and the Animal Law, Enforcement, Veterinary, and Shelter Symposium
• Director of Farm Animal Welfare Policy, ASPCA
• Senior Staff Attorney of the Criminal Justice Program, Animal Legal Defense Fund
• Director of Wildlife Law, Friends of Animals
• Chief Deputy State’s Attorney (VT) specializing in animal cruelty prosecutions
• Ocean Rights Manager, Earth Law Center
• Legal Counsel, Animal Outlook
• Senior Staff Attorney, Nonhuman Rights Project
• Founder, Animal Partisan
• Legal Counsel, Ocean Vision Legal
• Partner, Evans & Page
• Vice President for the Animal Cruelty and Fighting Campaign, Humane Society of the United States
• Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, PETA Foundation
• Associate Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity
• Staff Attorney & Assistant to the Chairman, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
  

Resources for Job Seekers

• AAVS
• ASPCA
• Animal Advocacy Careers
• Animal Equality
• Animal Legal Defense Fund
• Animal Welfare Institute
• Animal Wellness Action
• Association for Animal Welfare Advancement
• Builders Vision
• Cambridge Center for Animal Rights Law
• Center for Biological Diversity
• Compassion in World Farming
• Department of Justice
• Earthjustice
• Environment America
• EnvironmentalCareer.com
• Farm Sanctuary
• Government Jobs
• HigherEd Jobs
• Humane League
• Humane Society of the United States
• HumanePro
• Idealist
• In Defense of Animals
• IFAW
• Mercy For Animals
• NAVS
• NRDC
• PETA
• PCRM
• ProFellow
• Public Affairs Council
• Student PIRGs
• The Nature Conservancy
• VeganJobs.com
• World Wildlife Fund

Current Job Openings (July 2024)

• AAVS:Director of Policy
• Allied Scholars for Animal Protection:Tour Activist;Boston Community Organizer:Volunteer Manager
• Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters:Policy Associate
• ASPCA:Vice President, Cruelty Recovery Center;Fall Legal Intern;State Legislative Director, Great Lakes Region
• Animal Care League:Executive Director
• Animal Defenders International:Public Policy Specialist
• Animal Equality:Undercover Investigator;Campaigns Coordinator
• Animal Law & Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School:Clinical Instructor
• ALDF:Internships and Fellowships;Legislative Affairs Program Fellow;Pro Bono Program Externships and Student Volunteer Positions;Animal Law Program Externships and Student Volunteer Positions;Criminal Justice Externships and Student Volunteer Positions;Chief Programs Officer
• Animal Outlook:Summer 2025 Legal Advocacy Internship
• Animal Partisan:Legal Intern
• Animal Place:Executive Director
• AVA:Partnerships Lead
• Animal Welfare Institute:Internships
• Animal Wellness Action:Vermont State Director
• Brooks Institute:Fellowships;Projects Manager
• Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law:Fellowships
• Center for Animal Litigation:Law Clerk
• Center for Biological Diversity:Law Clerk – Carnivore Conservation Fall 2024;Senior Attorney – Oceans
• Defenders of Wildlife:Legal Fellow;Staff Attorney;Biodiversity Law Center Internship
• Dumb Friends League:Campaigns Coordinator
• Earth Law Center:Internships
• Earthjustice:Associate Attorney opportunities;Legislative Assistant;Managing Attorney/Director, International Program
• Emancipet:CEO
• Environment America:Federal Legislative Advocate;Save the Bees Advocate
• Food & Water Watch:Fall Legal Intern
• Food Solutions Action:California Policy Manager
• Friends of the Earth:Food Policy Intern;Policy Associate;Senior Community and Events Specialist
• Good Food Institute:Legislative Specialist
• Greenfire Law:Associate Attorney;Summer Law Clerk
• Humane League:Policy Advisor
• Humane Society of the United States:Specialist–Lobbying Compliance;State Director –Arkansas;Senior Strategist, Research and Regulatory Science;Senior Program Manager, Education – Conferences and Events;Specialist, Culinary, Farm Animal Protection
• Husson University:Online Animal Course Developers and Instructors
• Innovative Animal Ag:Program Director;Head of Policy
• IFAW:Director of Impact, Evaluation & Learning
• Legal Impact for Chickens:Summer Intern
• MSPCA:Director of Law Enforcement
• Meat Like:CEO
• Mercy For Animals:Global Public Policy Internship
• NRDC:Internships
• Nature Conservancy:Senior Operations Program Management;Land Protection Manager (VT);Associate Director of Conservation – Hawaii and Palmyra Chapter
• Northwest Animal Rights Network:Internships
• Ocean Vision Legal:Internships; Clerkships; Junior Associates; Legal Counsel
• Oceana:Legal & Policy Specialist;Field Representative, Pacific NW;Field Representative, Carolinas;Illegal Fishing and Transparency Fellow
• Open Philanthropy:General Counsel
• PETA:Campaigns
• Project Drawdown:Food & Climate Solutions Research Fellow
• ProVeg International:US Intern – InternationalPolicy/Advocacy
• Richman Law & Policy:Associate Attorney;Legal Intern
• Sentient:CEO
• The Public Interest Network:General Counsel;State Offices Digital Campaigner
• UConn School of Law:Visiting Instructor of Law, Teaching Fellow: Animal Law Clinic
• World Wildlife Fund:Program Officer, Local Government and Community Engagement, America is All In;Senior Program Officer – US and International Climate Policy

Animal Law Blog

Learn about legal issues that affect animal welfare, alumni fighting for animal protection, and the latest news from Vermont Law and Graduate School’s growing animal law program.

December 6, 2021

September 23, 2021

Delcianna (“Delci”) Winders, a renowned animal law expert and advocate, joined the Vermont Law School faculty this fall as a visiting associate professor of law and director of the new program. We caught up with VLS’s newest environmental law faculty member to learn more about animal law and how students can get involved.

Read More

December 7, 2021

Survey Says … Californians Can Have Their Pork and Let Pigs Move

Pork producers have been spuriously asserting that a California law allowing farmed animals room to move their limbs will spell the end of bacon. This blog presents survey data showing that grocery stores, restaurants, foodservice companies, and pork producers are in fact prepared to comply with the law when it goes into effect on January 1.

Read More

December 14, 2021

Three Can’t-Miss Environmental Law Summer Courses

May 11, 2021

From this summer’s selection of 23 environmental law courses, we asked Associate Dean and Professor Jenny Rushlow to weigh in on the three she’s most excited about.

Read More

December 14, 2021

Vermont Food Network, Paige Tomaselli ’04

August 13, 2016

VLS Alum Paige Tomaselli’s ’04 work for the Center for Food Safety has helped protect animals, the environment and public health, all while fighting “factory farms.”​​​​

Read More

February 9, 2022

VLS Student Lands Internship at Mercy for Animals

Vermont Law School 2L will work on projects aiming to improve legal protections for farmed animals.

Read More

Get Involved

With the support of people who care about advancing legal protections for animals, the institute will continue to grow and develop resources and opportunities for students, attorneys, and professionals.

Vermont Law School provides many ways to give. As a steward of the funds, VLGS will ensure donations directed to the Animal Law & Policy Institute will be utilized exclusively for those programs.

If you would like to donate online, please use the “Animal Law Program” designation in the drop-down menu. If you would like your gift specifically earmarked for the Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic, or other initiative, please note that in the comment box.

To donate by check, please note “Animal Law and Policy Institute” or “Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic” on the memo line and mail to PO Box 26, South Royalton, VT 05068.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at animallaw@vermontlaw.edu.

The Animal Law and Policy Institute was launched with the generous support of the Animal Welfare Trust, the Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy, the GRACE Communications Foundation, and the Greenbaum Foundation.

Animal Law Events

You may find recordings of previous events on YouTube. For other animal law and policy happenings, visit the Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy Events Calendar.

Animal Law And Policy Institute Leadership

Animal Law Professors

Contact Us

Email: animallaw@vermontlaw.edu