Removing Barriers for Animal Shelters and Rescues

Animal shelters and rescues are facing critical challenges. They are even shutting down at an alarming rate due to rising inflation, increasing costs associated with caring for animals, and declining available grants and funding for nonprofits. For instance, in 2024, the Southern Illinois Humane Society, a no-kill shelter, closed its doors after 70 years of service because of rising expenses and staffing issues, resulting in significant financial liabilities. This closure created a gap in the southern part of the state for animals abandoned or surrendered by their guardians.

It’s not only large, well-established organizations closing down; many smaller wildlife rehabilitators and animal welfare groups have also been forced to turn away injured wildlife and cannot assist in finding homes for animals in need. A lack of funding often drives these situations. The costs required for an animal welfare organization to incorporate and apply for IRS tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3) can be prohibitive. For many of these groups, the financial strain of providing direct animal care leaves them unable to save the funds necessary to hire legal counsel or cover the initial legal costs. As a result, many non-human animals are left without the support they require to thrive.

In an Animal Law Emerging Topics lecture, Lewis & Clark Law School Professor Russ Mead emphasized that helping even one animal can make a difference. This idea resonated with me and builds from Cheryl A. Esplin’s words, “Service does not have to be big and grandiose to be meaningful and make a difference.” After graduating with an Animal Law LLM in 2024, I set a course to implement those words. With the help and support of the CALS Global Ambassador Program, I launched the Animal Law Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of animals. Our mission is to provide pro bono legal services to animal welfare groups that provide direct care, housing, and services to companion animals, farmed animals, and wildlife. By providing pro bono legal services, animal welfare groups receive the legal resources they need to thrive instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on legal fees. These savings allow them to focus their limited budgets on the direct support of animals.

The legal services the Animal Law Alliance provides includes filing Articles of Incorporation; drafting corporate policies, bylaws, minutes, agendas, and resolutions; reviewing city, county, and state regulations for land use, zoning, registration, and other applicable regulatory concerns; drafting and reviewing contracts, including volunteer contracts and protocols, rescue, transport, and owner surrender agreements, transfer of ownership and owner reunification agreements, animal foster and adoption contracts, generating employee and volunteer handbooks and policies and filing applications for IRS 503(c)(3) status. With a generous grant from the CALS Global Ambassador Program, we can also cover the costs needed to file Articles of Incorporation and IRS application fees for 501(c)(3) status.

Since its launch, Animal Law Alliance has provided multiple animal welfare groups with free legal services. One such nonprofit, Community Animal Rescue Effort (C.A.R.E.), is a volunteer-based organization providing foster and adoption services to homeless cats and dogs. Over several months, Animal Law Alliance worked with this group to assist in creating and revising intake documents, including foster agreements, adoption contracts, and volunteer waivers and agreements.

A second nonprofit, Treasured Pets Foundation, works to cover unexpected veterinary costs, especially for those with low or fixed incomes and no pet insurance. Treatments such as cancer care, emergency surgery, or the management of chronic illnesses can be cost-prohibitive, sometimes resulting in euthanasia driven by financial constraints rather than the animal’s best interest, known as economic euthanasia. Their program provides financial aid to help families afford lifesaving veterinary care, offering pets a second chance and avoiding economic euthanasia. In partnership with this nonprofit, Animal Law Alliance reviewed various legal documents, including a volunteer handbook, a volunteer intake packet, and onboarding documents, to provide feedback for necessary revisions.

Offering legal assistance to existing nonprofits is only one of the services available through Animal Law Alliance. For smaller groups or individuals such as wildlife rehabilitators, filing Articles of Incorporation, creating Boards, and applying for recognition by the IRS for exempt status under 501(c)(3) can be expensive and overwhelming. \Animal Law Alliance has already guided two groups through the incorporation process, including the payment of their incorporation fees, and we hope to have their 501(c)(3) approval shortly!

Moving forward, Animal Law Alliance has law school and paralegal student interns working to generate a listing of other Illinois animal rescues/shelters/rehabilitators that might benefit from incorporating and filing for 501(c)(3) exempt status. We intend to contact those providing direct animal care to offer a financial lifeline through pro bono legal services. We are also creating a methodology for tracking the number of animals supported annually by each client. We believe that each animal welfare group that receives pro bono legal services supports several hundred animals annually. By providing these services to organizations that protect and serve animals, Animal Law Alliance hopes to help thousands of animals during the Global Ambassador Program year with an eye toward future expansion.

Next, we will be conducting outreach to local law schools and paralegal programs to expand awareness and seek additional volunteer students to participate in community building, outreach, and fundraising. In-person and remote speaking opportunities will also provide a platform to discuss animal law, focusing on the need for animal pro bono legal services.

The overwhelming response to the launch of the Animal Law Alliance confirms that animal rescues, shelters, and rehabilitators are struggling with financial constraints when animal intakes and the need to provide direct care are high. Our non-human counterparts need all of the support that we can provide. Animal Law Alliance hopes to play a role in that process by furnishing pro bono legal services for many years with an eye toward recruiting additional volunteer attorneys and increasing pro bono clients. The Lewis & Clark Animal Law LLM program gave me valuable insight into the need to support all non-human animal species, and the CALS Global Ambassador Program grant and support allow me to do precisely that. I am grateful to CALS for giving me this opportunity to inspire hope for a better future on behalf of animals.

About the Author: Kimberly Backman (LLM, ’24) aligned her professional goals with her values in support of animals after a successful career in family law, including numerous guardian ad litem appointments. In 2016, she started providing Pro Bono legal services to animal welfare nonprofits and organizations. Kimberly also founded Animal Rights and Advocacy of Illinois, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting animals, their legal rights, and their environment. In 2019, she became the 6th Congressional District Leader for the Humane Society of the United States, assisting in the advancement of both federal and state animal protection legislative agendas and lobbying to support the passage of Illinois humane pet store ordinances and cat declaw bans. CALS selected her as a Global Ambassador for the 2024/2025 term. As a CALS Ambassador, she launched Animal Law Alliance, which aims to transform animals’ lives by offering pro bono legal services to animal welfare groups, where she serves as Executive Director.

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. 

The Global Ambassador Program (GAP) empowers and supports our alumni to continue their animal law education and advocacy in the U.S. and abroad through their own innovative, individual projects. Through an application process, our animal law alumni can submit project proposals that demonstrate an opportunity to make a difference for animals across the globe. CALS Ambassadors are selected through an application process for a particular project the alum wished to pursue during their GAP year.