Dulki Seethawaka Honored with Outstanding Animal Law LLM Graduate Award

Dulki Seethawaka ’25 has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Animal Law LLM Graduate Award. A Sri Lankan attorney, Dulki is graduating, with honors, from Lewis & Clark Law School’s online Animal Law LLM program.

Throughout her time in the LLM program, Dulki has impressed faculty with her academic excellence and her broader impact in the field. As one faculty nominator shared, “A committed and engaged student, Dulki not only worked hard on her studies but also took the time to make an impact through extracurricular activities. She is enthusiastic and committed to improving animal protection and expanding the field of animal law in Sri Lanka and will capably do so.”

Dulki has been actively working to modernize Sri Lanka’s animal protection laws, many of which are more than a century old. Her work has the potential to significantly improve conditions for animals in Sri Lanka, and she is eager to carry it forward following graduation. In addition to her legal advocacy work, Dulki is a senior executive researcher at the Centre for Environmental Law and Policy (CELP) of the University of Colombo. She earned her LLB from the University of London and her BA in Interior Design from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, both with honors. She also holds an LLM and an M. Phil from the University of Colombo, with a specialization in animal welfare laws.

During her LLM studies, Dulki was selected three times by a consortium of international academic programs to present at the Comparative Animal Law Postgraduate Workshop, with her most recent presentation examining the need for stronger regulations on dog breeding in Sri Lanka. The previous year, she presented a paper on protecting captive elephants in South Asia, which will appear in a forthcoming edition of the Journal of Comparative Animal Law. The prior year she presented “A Comparative Analysis on Reforming Animal Welfare Laws to Protect Captive and Domesticated Animals in Sri Lanka.” In addition to this Workshop, Dulki also took part in the Law Lecturers’ Workshop organized by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law in Hyderabad, India, in 2024.

An accomplished author, Dulki has also published in prominent local, national, and international journals and written various opinion columns on animal protection for The Morning, a national newspaper in Sri Lanka. At CELP, she served as an editor of A Compilation of Animal Welfare Provisions and Case Law, the first and only such resource in Sri Lanka. She also authored the Sri Lankan chapter of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Global Animal Law edited by Anne Peters, Kristen Stilt, and Saskia Stucki. In February 2025, Dulki published “Defending Captive and Domestic Animals in Sri Lanka,” the first book of its kind in the country dedicated to animal law protection.

Reflecting on her time in the program, Dulki shared, “I am truly honored and deeply grateful to be selected as this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Animal Law LLM Graduate Award. Being part of the Center for Animal Law Studies and the Lewis & Clark community has been an immensely enriching experience, and this recognition means a great deal to me. I truly appreciate this honor and all the opportunities I have received during my time in the advanced degree program.”

As a full scholarship recipient, Dulki pursued her LLM to deepen her legal expertise and broaden her network. “This program provides the perfect platform to learn from the experts in the field,” she reflects. “I hope to continue my commitment towards animal protection and aspire to become an academic researcher specializing in animal laws.”

Her plans following graduation include continuing to dedicate her time as an expert at World Animal Justice and as a volunteer legal researcher at Animal Law Focus and the International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics. She also serves as Associate Editor for both the Journal of Animal Rights Law and the South Asian Journal of Environmental Law and Policy. Beyond her academic and professional work, Dulki is active in her community, regularly fostering, feeding, and caring for local street dogs.

Dulki’s dedication and vision make her a powerful advocate for animals and a deserving recipient of this year’s award.

The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. In addition to JD study, CALS offers an advanced degree program in-person and online. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from more than 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded Center within the law school operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.