The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an animal law advocacy organization. Its stated mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. It accomplishes this by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are punished for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law. In addition to their national headquarters in Cotati, California, the Animal Legal Defense Fund maintains an office in Portland, Oregon.
Programs
Litigation
The Animal Legal Defense Fund goes to court for animals. From filing high-impact lawsuits to providing amicus curiae briefs, its litigation work is a primary tool in the work to advance the interests of animals. The Animal Legal Defense Fund's team of expert staff attorneys may bring suit themselves, or it may retain outside counsel for representation. Its civil actions on behalf of animals often include filing amicus curiae briefs arguing the case for recognition of the bonds between humans and nonhuman animals and filing formal complaints against government agencies charged with enforcing laws meant to protect animals.
Criminal justice
The Animal Legal Defense Fund's Criminal Justice Program is staffed by attorneys, including former prosecutors, with expertise in animal protection law who provide free legal assistance to prosecutors, law enforcement, and veterinarians handling animal cruelty cases. It also works with state legislators to strengthen criminal animal protection laws.
Animal law
The Animal Legal Defense Fund's Animal Law Program works closely with law students and law professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law. Moving toward the day when animal law is part of the curriculum at each and every law school, the Animal Law Program collaborates with students, faculty, and school administrations to facilitate the development of animal law courses and assists students in forming Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapters.
Pro bono
Working to expand the practice and understanding of animal law in the legal community, the Animal Legal Defense Fund partners with attorneys and pro bono coordinators across the country. The program utilizes these volunteers to support the Animal Legal Defense Fund's litigation, criminal justice, and legislative goals. The Animal Legal Defense Fund also works to expand the practice and understanding of animal law in the legal community by delivering presentations at law firms and state bar association events and keeping volunteers updated on the latest cases, animal law conferences, and continuing legal education opportunities.
Legislation
The Animal Legal Defense Fund works at the state and local levels to advance important legislation. The Legislative Affairs Program advocates for laws that promote or protect the lives and interests of animals and opposes legislation that would be detrimental to animals’ well-being.
U.S. Animal Protection Laws State Rankings
The Animal Legal Defense Fund's annual report comprehensively surveys animal protection laws of all U.S. states and territories. It is the longest-running and most authoritative report of its kind, assessing the strength of each jurisdiction's animal protection laws by examining over 4,000 pages of statutes. The report also highlights the top, middle and bottom tiers of jurisdictions and notes the "Best Five" and "Worst Five" states overall.
Cases & campaigns
2018
In December, the Supreme Court denied the foie gras industry's petition challenging California's ban on the sale of foie gras. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ mandate went into immediate effect, banning foie gras in California. The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed numerous amicus briefs in the six-plus years of litigation, urging courts to uphold the law.
In October, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to address judicial response in court cases related to animal cruelty.