Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program

Harvard Law School's Animal Law Week, Monday March 31

"Exploitation and Silence in Industrial Animal Agriculture"

Speakers: Amal Bouhabib (FarmSTAND); Beatrice Lindstrom (Harvard Int'l Human Rights Clinic)

What happens when the law looks away from what goes on inside industrial farms — and who pays the price?

Animal agriculture sits at a complex intersection of labor law, environmental regulation, and animal welfare — and critics argue the legal system has long enabled silence around what happens inside industrial facilities.

Monday's Animal Law Week session, "Exploitation and Silence in Industrial Animal Agriculture," takes that head on. Amal Bouhabib of FarmSTAND and Beatrice Lindstrom of Harvard's International Human Rights Clinic bring together two perspectives that don't always share the same stage: animal advocacy and human rights law.

📍 WCC 1010 | 12:15–1:15pm | Also on Zoom 🌱 Free vegan lunch included. Registration required: https://animal.law.harvard.edu/event/alw-day-1-exploitation-and-silence-in-industrial-animal-agriculture/

Harvard Law School's Animal Law Week, Friday April 3rd:

"Does a Public Actor Have the Right to Anonymity?"

Speakers: Noah Feldman (Harvard Law School); Asher Smith (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals); Julia Allison (Harvard Kennedy School)

When a public institution conducts animal research, does it have a right to keep that secret? The intersection of transparency, institutional accountability, and free speech is rarely examined this directly (or by such luminaries in their fields!) It's a fitting close to a week of conversations that push at the edges of what animal law touches, and means.

📍 WCC 1023 | 12:15–1:15pm | Also on Zoom 🌱 Free vegan lunch to close out the week! Registration required: https://animal.law.harvard.edu/event/alw-day-5-does-a-public-actor-have-the-right-to-anonymity/

🐾⚖️ Animal Law Week is almost here!

Join us March 30–April 3 for five days of bold, timely conversations at the cutting edge of animal law and policy — right here at Harvard Law School

This year's lineup brings together litigators from across the country to explore where animal welfare, human rights, and constitutional law meet. Each session runs 12:15–1:15pm, and yes — free vegan lunch is included every day. 🌱

Whether you're a longtime advocate or just curious about this growing field, there's a seat for you. Most events are available on Zoom for those outside the Boston area.

📍 Harvard Law School | March 30 – April 3, registration required: https://animal.law.harvard.edu/event/animal-law-week-2026/

Join us for a presentation and discussion with Hon. Justice Athar Minallah, former judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and former Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court.

Justice Minallah will explore the pioneering role of Pakistani courts in recognizing the legal rights of non-humans and articulating the corresponding constitutional and moral obligations humans owe to animals, ecosystems, and nature.

Lunch will be provided. Open to Harvard ID holders only.
For more info: https://lnkd.in/ehcSpcAT

The next generation of animal advocates is already here. 💪🐾

Engaging the Next Generation & Expanding Outreach roundtable panel will explore how we can grow the movement — inspiring new voices, reaching broader audiences, and sustaining momentum for lasting change.

Virtual registration is still available!

The Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program’s Faculty Director, Professor Kristen Stilt and Associate Director of Policy and Research, Ann Linder, submitted written testimony to the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources regarding H.966/S.544, “An Act prohibiting the mistreatment of birds.” This proposed legislation would prohibit the production and sale of force‑fed poultry products in the Commonwealth.

The testimony explains that force-feeding birds is a technique used to produce products such as foie gras. The force-feeding process “involves close, intense, and frequent physical contact between producers and birds during the manual process of a human worker physically restraining the animal and putting a tube down the animal’s throat several times a day.” The testimony notes that “[e]ach of these human-animal interactions creates opportunities for exposure to zoonotic disease through direct contact with the animal’s saliva and other bodily fluids or through other modes such as airborne-transmission.”

The testimony emphasizes that “[r]educing or eliminating these kinds of human-animal interactions is particularly and urgently relevant because ducks and other waterfowl serve as reservoirs for avian influenza viruses, including the current H5N1 subtype.” It underscores that force-feeding is problematic because “[w]aterfowl raised for foie gras can transmit avian influenza viruses within farms and to surrounding wildlife, which risks spreading these pathogens to new species and further undermines containment efforts.”

Citing federal data, the testimony notes ongoing detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild birds and in commercial and backyard flocks nationwide since 2022. Its authors conclude that “foie gras production poses a clear, ongoing threat to animal welfare, commercial livestock and poultry production, public health, and ecosystem stability.”

animal.law.harvard.edu

We are very pleased to introduce ALPP's new Executive Director, Lana Nadj. We are so fortunate to have her take on such an important leadership role in our team. Her connections with ALPP extend back to many of our previous projects, and amid long-term animal work and organizational development, she holds animal law degrees from both the United States and Australia. In addition to her impactful animal law work, Lana is a genuinely kind, authentic and exquisite human being. We are luck to have her and look forward to introducing her ot many of you. Welcome, Lana!

Today we published a lengthy and incisive analysis of the H.R.4673, the “Save Our Bacon Act,” which threatens to jeopardize hundreds of state regulations.

Key findings in the report highlight that enactment of H.R.4673 could affect hundreds of state and local laws and regulations related to livestock production and livestock product standards intended to protect public health, farmers, and consumers, such as vaccination and food safety requirements; nullify animal disease and pest prevention measures, such as state protections related to avian influenza and screwworm; shift longstanding state authority to the federal government, raising questions about the balance of power between federal and state governments...and much more.

The report, written by Legislative Policy Fellow Kelley McGill, is posted in its entirety on our website:

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Is rescuing animals a crime? Kristen Stilt and Matthew Liebman's op-ed in today's Los Angeles Times explores the question as it pertains to the Sonoma County trial currently underway. Zoe Rosenberg we hope you feel our support and many hands and eyes. So many of us are focusing unrelenting, great attention on the trial.

Contributor: Why rescuing animals should never be a crime Saving a dog from a hot car is a brave act. Would you say the same about freeing chickens from a factory farm?

We are thrilled and honored to welcome Debora Bresch to ALPP. She is just finishing a LLM at Vermont Law and Graduate School adding to her already extensive and impressive career heading up projects with diverse stakeholders and perspectives. Most recently, she was a legal fellow in Senator Cory Booker’s office, and held an enormous & significant role at the ASPCA prior to that as Senior State Legislative Director from 2001 to 2022, covering CT, NJ, and NY. Debora has drafted and seen through to adoption many animal laws, and will be working at Harvard on our Farmed Animal Benchmark Project. Debora, you have all our confidence and support for the seasons ahead, and our gratitude for all you've already accomplished.

🔔 ICYMI: The Truth and Transparency Symposium is just around the corner
📅 Sept 12 | 8:30AM–5PM
📍 University of Denver Sturm College of Law

From hidden animal suffering to the legal and political systems that keep it invisible, this symposium tackles urgent questions of free speech, justice, and truth-telling.

Among the speakers: our founder, Jo-Anne McArthur, who will share her perspective on documenting animals with honesty, the impact of powerful stories, and why these narratives must reach the world.

🔗 Register here: https://udenver.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8cEwN6LIqPEV6aG