Until Every Animal is Free by Rodriguez Saryta

Author:Rodriguez, Saryta [Rodriguez, Saryta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vegan Publishers
Published: 2015-09-07T16:00:00+00:00

Animal Legal Defense Fund

I had long ago heard of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and knew vaguely that they worked with animal abuse cases, but beyond that, I didn’t know much. I presumed that they were a mostly “dog-and-cat” organization—that they may focus on, say, removing pets from homes in which they are abused or neglected, or breaking up underground animal-abusive industries such as dog fighting rings. Somehow I assumed they would steer clear of circus, meat and dairy industry, and other animal abuses that “omnivores” tend to overlook; perhaps because it was such a high-profile organization, perhaps because I didn’t know where their funding came from—but most likely, as often happens to us liberationists, I was growing increasingly pessimistic in general.

After learning of their involvement in the Petaluma cage-free egg case, my curiosity was further piqued. Fortunately, in the summer of 2014 I encountered a lovely couple here in Oakland with some connections to the ALDF. When I mentioned I was writing a book on animal liberation, they offered to put me in touch with the organization.

I was directed to Matthew Leibman, a senior attorney in the Litigation Program at ALDF who works on all aspects of ALDF’s civil cases, including investigating reports of animal cruelty, conducting legal research, developing new legal theories, and appearing in court. Later, through him, I was directed to another ALDF attorney, Jessica Blome. I thank them both for the insights that follow, which definitely raised my spirits and renewed the hope I was scarcely aware that I’d been losing.

The first thing I heard from Matthew that really lit up my life was that the ALDF, contrary to my previous pessimistic assumptions, does not deal strictly with “dog-and-cat” legislation. This group advocates on behalf of a wide variety of animal species: “…everything from rats to chimps to frogs to birds.”

In May 2014, the ALDF filed a “friend of the court” brief on behalf of the city of West Hollywood—the first city in the nation to ban the sale of products made from animal fur within city limits. Thanks at least in part to this brief, a constitutional challenge to West Hollywood’s legislation was dismissed. This case sets the critical precedent that municipalities ought to have the right to make ethical determinations for themselves and forbid products and practices that harm animals within their borders. While bans such as the bullhook ban in Oakland and Los Angeles outlaw certain practices within cities, in the case of West Hollywood, an entire family of products has been forbidden—an issue that affects many more residents and businesses than the alteration of a circus procedure.

In July 2014, the ALDF settled a lawsuit against Duane Freilino, organizer of the annual JMK Coyote Hunting Contest in Crane, Harney County, Oregon, and successfully put a stop to this contest. Jessica Blome was the lead attorney on this case. I asked her whether she considered this an isolated case or part of a larger program to end hunting contests in America:

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