Ever Vimbai Chinoda

Executive Director and Founder, Speak Out For Animals
Zimbabwe
LLM ’17, CALS Ambassador 2021-2022

Wildlife Law Casebook. For wildlife law to develop in Zimbabwe, Ever believes it is important to have statutes and case precedents consolidated in one textbook. She will be focusing on literature development, primarily publishing a wildlife law casebook to be used by students, prosecutors, and magistrates in court to guide their decisions and judgments.

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   Photo, in memory of Dona Cooley, 2008-2020.

Tara Cooley

Animal Law Teaching Fellow, University of Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
LLM ’21, CALS Ambassador 2021-2022

Courtroom Animal Advocate Programs. As the UConn Animal Law Teaching Fellow, Tara is implementing several new projects related to Connecticut’s Courtroom Animal Advocate Program (CAAP) law—Desmond’s Law. Tara is working with UConn Law Professor Jessica Rubin to implement a new specialized animal cruelty diversionary program to address the absence of an accelerated pretrial rehabilitation program in Connecticut that meets the needs of cruelty offenders. Tara and Professor Rubin are also providing training and support to various states to assist in the implementation of CAAPs nationwide, including the development of a multi-state CAAP implementation guide.

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Alice Di Concetto

Founder, European Institute for Animal Law & Policy
France
LLM ’16, CALS Ambassador 2021-2022

Animal Law in the European Union. Over the course of her GAP year, Alice will conduct three publication projects: a report on animals in the clothing industry; a collection of student essays on European Union (EU) animal law aspects; and a quarterly publication of a newsletter and research notes. These projects will provide animal law experts and advocates with high-quality updates on the latest animal law and policy developments in the EU.

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Tony Gerrans

Executive Director of African Operations, Humane Society International
South Africa
LLM ’19, CALS Ambassador 2021, 2021-2022

One Health One Welfare. In November of 2021, Tony will speak at the 5th Annual African Animal Welfare Conference, scheduled to be held in Accra, Ghana. The theme of the conference is ONE HEALTH ONE WELFARE - For A Better and Greener Tomorrow. Tony will be presenting on how the One Welfare framework might be used to advance legal protections of farmed animals across Africa.

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Hira Jaleel

Hira Jaleel

Animal Law Teaching Fellow & Adjunct Professor, Center for Animal Law Studies
Portland, Oregon
LLM ’20, CALS Ambassador 2021-2022

Development of Animal Law in Pakistan. During the course of the GAP Year, Hira intends to develop an open-access website that will contain a repository of information about animal law in Pakistan. Furthermore, Hira plans to conduct a number of webinars on animal legal developments in Pakistan, along with researching and writing the first ever comprehensive textbook on animal law in Pakistan. Hira also aims to use her GAP funding to institute strategic impact litigation on behalf of animals in Pakistan. Lastly, one of her key objectives is to involve law students and young lawyers from Pakistan in these GAP projects to perpetuate animal law as a field in the country.

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Gladys Kamasanyu

Gladys Kamasanyu

Chief Magistrate, Uganda Wildlife Court
Uganda
LLM ’20, CALS Ambassador 2021-2022

Animal Protection Laws in Uganda. As part of her efforts with the nonprofit she founded during her Animal Law LLM studies with us—Help African Animals—Gladys will be designing, producing, and distributing a compendium of all animal protection laws in Uganda to make available to advocates and local communities. Her hope is to spread knowledge about animal protection laws to other Ugandans to create awareness, foster change, and advance the cause of her nonprofit.

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Diego Plaza

Executive Director, CEDA Chile & Founder, Fundación Justicia Interespecie
Chile
LLM ’20, CALS Ambassador

Advancing Non-Human Interests in Chile. During this GAP year, Diego will work through CEDA Chile and Fundación Justicia Interespecie (FJI) to lead several actions to advance non-human interests in Chile. On an academic level, he plans to continue coordinating activities in schools and universities, as well as organizing and participating in international instances, all aimed at addressing animal issues. In addition, through FJI he will lead strategic litigation projects, participate in the “Subjects Not Objects” campaign, which aims to include non-human animals as legal persons in the new Constitution, and coordinate other kinds of animal activism. However, the main project of this year will be the creation of the first animal legal publishing house in Chile for two pieces of work: one of a legal nature; and the other one in charge of the intersectional literature area of CEDA Chile (CEDA ALI), which will address animal issues from non-legal, intersectional, and feminist perspectives.

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Lyudmila Shegay

Co-Founder and Managing Director, Institute of Animal Law of Asia
Kazakhstan
LLM ’20, CALS Ambassador 2021, 2021-2022

Educational Platform for Animal Law in Kazakhstan. Lu Shegay will be leading the project “International Institute of Animal Law,” which will serve as an educational platform for students across the country, where they will have an opportunity to engage in legal research, seminars, workshops, and expand their knowledge in animal law. The Institute will be providing legal research on animal law, mentoring young researchers, organizing seminars and research workshops with the participation of lawyers, veterinary doctors, researchers in the fields of animal psychology and animal ethics. The Institute will also be networking with Kazakhstani and foreign animal law scholars and experts, lobbying on animal-related legal issues, and preparing publications.

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Tess Vickery

Legal and Policy Advisory, to NSW Parliament member of the Animal Justice Party
Australia
LLM ’19, CALS Ambassador 2021

Global Animal Law Seminar. Tony Gerrans and Tess Vickery will be working together to research, organize, and present a Seminar on recent Global Animal Law Developments. The Seminar will provide a focused and accessible opportunity to stay up to date with the latest developments in animal law around the world. The Seminar also intends for Animal Law LLM Alumni to take these lessons back to their home countries to further their work in animal law domestically. This project will also provide a new opportunity for Animal Law LLM Alumni to establish and maintain contact with each other and with CALS, and will encourage future collaboration projects outside of the Seminar.

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Zihao Yu

Co-Founder and Executive Director, Institute of Animal Law of Asia
China
LLM ’20, CALS Ambassador 2021

Farm Animal Welfare. Our 2020 Animal Law LLM Alumni, Zihao Yu, was among our first students from China. As a CALS Ambassador, Zihao will develop a Farm Animal Welfare in Mainland China Project to focus on improving the awareness of animal welfare for animals used in agriculture in mainland China through education. The activities that Zihao has planned to achieve the Project’s goals include: field research, a debate competition, and webinars all designed for law students, activists, and scholars in China.

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