NYSBA | Welcome to the Committee on Animals and the Law

Welcome to the Committee on Animals and the Law

Welcome to the Committee on Animals and the Law!

Legal issues with animals occur in several arenas: housing, real estate, health, agriculture and business, to name only a few. Attorneys have only recently begun practices that include animal law, which makes it one of the more exciting fields of law. This website provides information for Committee members, attorneys and members of the public who have an interest in the growing field of animal law.

This Committee was originally conceived by the late Lorraine Power Tharp, past president of the Association, who wanted to highlight the growing field of Animals and the Law and to educate the profession, specifically the membership, about the issues that arise in the law in relation to animals.

HUMANE EDUCATION LAW SEC. 809

The New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Animals and the Law would like to introduce you to our Intro to Humane Education program. This program can help educators meet the requirements of New York State Education Law §809, which states: “The officer, board or commission authorized or required to prescribe courses of instruction shall cause instruction to be given in every elementary school under state control or supported wholly or partly by public money of the state, in the humane treatment and protection of animals and the importance of the part they play in the economy of nature as well as the necessity of controlling the proliferation of animals which are subsequently abandoned and caused to suffer extreme cruelty.” Click here for more information!