Over the weekend Toronto was host to the fourth annual Canadian Animal Law Conference. The exciting program featured thought-provoking presentations by leading experts from around the world—including lawyers, scholars, Indigenous leaders, scientists, and advocates.
The laws on the books for animals in Canada are extremely outdated and far behind many other developed countries, but interested in animal law has exploded in recent years and the conference provided an opportunity to connect students, advocates, and legal experts to discuss actions that can help bridge the gap between societal expectations of animal rights protection and the reality in Canada.
Sessions included discussions of ag gag laws, animals suffering during disasters, how to teach animal law as a multidimensional social justice issue, getting animals out of lab experiments, zoos and aquariums, banning the fur farming industry, transitioning to a slaughter-free food system, and much more.
The Conference was a massive success thanks to the wonderful attendees, speakers, University of Toronto, catering, staff and volunteers. And only possible thanks to the support of sponsors the Brooks Institute, the Robert & Judith Clark Foundation, Val Koziol, the Beagle Alliance and Arise Productions.
We can’t wait to see you all again next year!
Photos: Ryann Fineberg
