Sarah Luick, JD, is a long-time Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) Board member, from about its start in the 1970s and for the next 37 years.
She is a Massachusetts attorney, having graduated from Suffolk Law School 1977. She practiced for a short time in a small firm; was a hearing officer at Cambridge Rent Control; and spent most of her career, 37 years, as a Massachusetts state government administrative law judge. She has served as a long time and ongoing board member with the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS), the Massachusetts Animal Coalition, CEASE (Citizens to End Animal Suffering and Exploitation), and The Great Ape Project.
Image: Sarah and Lolly
“By 1995, it was clear that the underlying issue of the property status of non-human animals remained, and still is, a big obstacle.”
- Were you involved in animal law/policy/advocacy in 1995? Yes – by then for around 15 years, primarily through ALDF with its growth in animal law programs. At that time, I’d also been involved:
- Through NEAVS with work to end use of animals in experimenting and testing, as well as to stop dissection of animals in schools
- Doing marches and protests, in 1995 and before, mostly with anti-fur campaigns with the Massachusetts animal rights activists organization called CEASE (Citizens to End Animal Suffering and Exploitation)
- Programs with the shelter and rescue community in MA through the innovative and collaborative work of the Massachusetts Animal Coalition
- Advancing chimpanzee protections internationally with the Great Ape Project.
- If so, what were you doing? My volunteer board work for animal advocacy organizations over the years became my avocation. My animal law background was why I was on these boards and board work became how I could most contribute. By 1995, ALDF was doing an annual animal law conference that was growing in attendance, and I met many talented and committed attorneys and law students. At Lewis & Clark Law School, the first animal law review journal was published with help from ALDF Board member attorneys. I was privileged to serve as a judge in many of the national annual animal law moot court competitions. I’d also been promoting ALDF at national and MA events through tabling to encourage activists to recognize the need to improve the legal status of animals. I’d gotten involved in LINKS (domestic violence/child abuse and animal cruelty connections) issues, and also exploring with Kara Holmquist, Advocacy Director at the MSPCA, how to start a state bar association animal issue committee.
- What were the major issues in 1995? There was widespread awareness that animal suffering had not been addressed adequately if at all. Books and articles by philosophers and legal scholars addressing animal issues were increasing. By 1995, it was clear that the underlying issue of the property status of non-human animals remained and still is, a big obstacle. Around this time Steve Wise (who’d gotten me started with ALDF) was doing his research that would later turn into the Non-human Rights Project, and scholars like Professor David Favre were exploring practical ways our legal system could chip away at this unrealistic status all species of animals are given. Specifically:
- ALDF had been toiling in areas involving federal laws: to secure standing to sue to gain enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA); to call for a hearing before a mouse could be patented; and to require a hearing before a dolphin in entertainment in an aquarium could be transferred to the US Navy.
- Successes in ALDF’s Criminal Justice Program were occurring with more states passing laws making some acts of cruelty a felony level offense.
- Dog and cock fighting were being outlawed.
- The link between domestic violence with animal cruelty was being explored, as was the need to effectively deal with animal hoarding.
- Anti-fur wearing campaigns were beginning to make a difference.
- The worth of using animals in research was being seriously questioned when accurate and effective alternatives were available. Support for the continued use of chimpanzees in experiments and tests was eroding.
- Problems for wildlife across the world were now recognized as very serious.
- Abuses inside factory farm operations were being exposed, but were not addressed by any federal law with cruelty laws exempting the industry’s cruel practices in states where these operations were located.
- Some positive developments had been happening through state ballot initiatives such as to end greyhound racing, to stop the use of leghold traps, and to stop hunts of certain wildlife.
- State ballot initiatives began to be viewed as a route to ban practices like use of gestation crates and veal crates.
- Media was beginning to cover animal cruelty issues, particularly involving companion animals. Civil lawsuits were seeking compensable damages for owners who had their pets harmed or killed, and even for the suffering endured by a surviving pet. Animal control practices were being challenged such as dangerous dog laws and banning dog breeds. Companion animal overpopulation issues were being more thoroughly addressed including the worth of feral cat TNR (trap-neuter-release) and stopping puppy-mill operations.
- What are the positive developments in last 25 years in animal law, policy or welfare. Major developments include:
- The field of animal law has become more specialized and widespread within the US and now in other countries. There is an Animal Law LLM degree available at the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School. There are trusts for animals through the Uniform Trust Act. There are now more books and law review articles on animal law topics. Our culture is recognizing that science proves non-human animals are sentient, feel pain, but also experience suffering, and that this is against our moral values. How various religions address the human-animal relationship is being explored. We now have college level animal studies courses.
- The media is paying attention to animal welfare concerns with more serious coverage that is leading to positive reforms that the public embrace.
- There are improved programs for shelters and rescues addressing homeless companion animals and free roaming cats as well as shelter medicine programs in veterinary schools. Chimpanzees are no longer widely used experiment and research subjects in laboratories with sanctuaries set up for them to live in. Marine mammal captures for entertainment in the US are diminished and endangered whales are being better protected from entanglements and ship-strikes. The harms occurring to captive endangered wild animals such as tigers are being exposed and there are sanctuaries that will take released wild animals such as elephants and big cats.
- There is now established scholarship on the LINK issue and states are passing laws to include a pet to protect within a restraining order.
- No longer are vegetarian and vegan diets considered far removed from the mainstream. Plant-based food is gaining great popularity, and there is a growing field of cultivated meat entrepreneurship.
- What are the negatives? In the early years of ALDF, we developed an Animal Bill of Rights setting forth very basic rights or interests that all non-human animals should have recognized within our legal system. We still have a long way to go due to the property status of all animals and our legal system not even recognizing a fundamental duty of care toward them. Legislative improvements can always be repealed or diminished. Other issues:
- The food animal industry is fighting back against successes at animal welfare demands with Ag-Gag laws carrying severe criminal penalties for exposing abuses. Industry advertisements about how animals are raised are misleading such as saying cage free poultry to equate with humane care.
- Local, state and federal legislative efforts often move very slowly to enact improvements in even reasonable animal welfare measures. If animal issue groups work where possible collaboratively toward achieving goals, we can realize more progress, such as working with environmental, wildlife protection groups, and human rights groups.
- What did we learn in the last 25 years? If animal issue groups work where possible collaboratively toward achieving goals, we can realize more progress, such as working with environmental, wildlife protection groups, and human rights groups.
- Looking toward the future, what are your predictions for:
- 5 years (2025): Increased collaborations by animal advocacy organizations with other non-animal organization stakeholders leading to improved welfare conditions for the raising of food animals. More successful state ballot initiatives to improve conditions for animals used in industries, and for wildlife protections. More animal studies courses in colleges. Continued growth of the field of animal law with improved court decisions and improved welfare laws. An end to dissection of animals in schools. A ban on puppy-mill operations.
- 10 years (2030): Increased use of alternatives over use of outdated, less effective animal models for experimenting and testing. Inclusion of rats, mice and birds within the Animal Welfare Act’s protections. Federal court decisions recognizing legal standing and/or legislative enactments of a right to sue by animal issue organizations for enforcement of important laws such as the AWA. More mainstream use of plant-based meat substitutes in grocery stores and restaurants. More advances in cultivated meat production to lessen dependence on livestock raising.
“If animal issue groups work where possible collaboratively toward achieving goals, we can realize more progress, such as working with environmental, wildlife protection groups, and human rights groups.”
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