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December 18, 2008
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ANIMALS AND THE LAW GRANTED
PERMANENT STATUS BY NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
ALBANY—The New York State Bar Association Special Committee on
Animals and the Law, one of the nation’s first state bar Animal
Law committees, has now been granted Standing Committee status by the
Association’s House of Delegates.
Established in 2002 by then-President Lorraine Power Tharp, the
Committee on Animals and the Law is a legal resource for both attorneys
and the public about animal-related issues that arise from and have an
effect on our legal system. Committee members include
professionals in animal health care, animal welfare, wildlife
conservation, and other related fields in animal-law and humane-related
work.
Committee Chair James F. Gesualdi said, “The New York State Bar
Association has long been a leader in Animal Law. We are proud to
have been granted Standing Committee status and now have a permanent
home from which to continue making a difference for animals and
people.”
The Committee’s Founding Chair Beverly Poppell noted, “The
achievement of standing committee status is a worthy legacy of the late
past President Lorraine Power Tharp who conceived the idea and also of
the current members whose collective efforts already demonstrate that
they have accepted the challenge of continuing her groundbreaking
work.”
Among the Committee’s most notable achievements to date are:
? Creation of CLE and public outreach offerings including
programs on animal cruelty, dangerous dogs, legal implications of
emerging animal diseases and “Animal Law as an Emerging Area of
Practice,” one of the State Bar’s more popular recorded
programs.
? Contributing to enactment of important new animal welfare
laws in New York, such as those that have strengthened the animal
fighting law, required disaster evacuation planning to take into account
the needs of pet owners and extended the reach of protective orders to
all members of the household including companion animals.
Significantly, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the committee was the
only legal group to testify before committees of the New York State
Senate and Assembly on emergency preparedness.
? Launch of an annual national Animal Law Student Writing
Competition.
? Creation of the innovative Patient Pet Care Program, in
partnership with St. Vincent’s Hospital. This initiative
helps provide care for animals whose owners or caregivers are
incapacitated.
? Development of a popular Animal Law pamphlet for the
Association’s Legalease series.
Exciting new initiatives include a Mentor Program for attorneys and law
students interested in Animal Law, the launch of an Animal Law blog, and
the publication of a scholarly quality newsletter in Animal
Law.
The 74,000-member New York State Bar Association is the official
statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the largest voluntary
state bar association in the nation. Founded in 1876,
NYSBA programs and activities have continuously served the public and
improved the justice system for more than 130 years.
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