I often get the question “Why should we even care about animals?”
And to me the answer is because animals matter, because animals are a part of our lives, whether as companions,
as the food that we eat, as the clothes that we wear, as the wildlife that we hope to see in the forest.
My name is Pamela Frasch and I am the Associate Dean of the Animal Law Program
and the founder of the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
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Animals are all around us and there are laws, or should be laws, that really regulate all of that type of usage.
And that, of course, is part of what we do as animal attorneys is we look at how animals are being used,
how their parts are being used, whether the power we have over them is appropriate,
or whether that balance needs to be shifted.
There’s a phenomenon known as “the link,” which is the link between animal abuse and violence.
And what we’ve seen through multiple studies over many years,
and certainly anecdotally through hundreds and thousands of cases,
is that people who abuse animals are much more likely to be abusing their children and their spouses.
And that’s one of the things that’s so amazing about this field,
is that it really does impact not only animals but it does impact humans as well.
I know, based on my own experience, that if you get involved in animal protection
you are absolutely helping the community, you are helping the humans in your community as well.
One of the biggest misconceptions about animal law and animal protection
is that I think most people think that there are all sorts of laws and protections
that protect all types of animals from harm, but that’s not true.
Farmed animals for example, receive virtually no protection under state law or federal law.
If we are successful, we will be thinking about animals whenever we are passing laws,
whenever we’re developing new policy.
It will just make us all more thoughtful, more compassionate, and it will reduce suffering across the board.
