Animal Law & Policy Program

Animal law advocates from a variety of disciplines and perspectives came together at Harvard Law School  for the fourth annual Animal Law Week, an event co-hosted by the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program and Harvard Law School's Student Animal Legal Defense Fund . 

On Sept. 5, Harvard Law School Lecturer Jonathan Lovvorn was named the first policy director for the school's Animal Law & Policy Program. Lovvorn, who previously taught Wildlife Law in both the Fall 2015 and Fall 2016 terms, will continue as a lecturer, teaching a new course this fall on Farmed Animal Law & Policy.

The intersection of climate change, animal testing, and corporate strategic partnerships were among the issues explored during the third annual Animal Law Week, a series of events hosted at Harvard Law School from Feb. 27-March 3 by HLS’s Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) and the Harvard Animal Law and Policy Program.

With his recent gift of $1 million and a subsequent matching gift of $500,000 to support individual donations of up to $50,000 through December, Charles Thomas is hoping to make farm animals central to animal cruelty prevention.

Harvard Magazine recently featured a story on the evolution of animal law in the United States, highlighting the new HLS Animal Law & Policy Program and faculty director Kristen Stilt. In February, to commemorate Animal Law Week, Harvard Law School hosted a series of animal law lunchtime talks, with topics ranging from Islamic law, direct democracy, and environmental law.