Law, lawyers and animals: get to know the lawyers behind Advocates for Animals

(c) Advocates for Animals

Introduction

Edie Bowles and David Thomas are two passionate animal advocates. Lawyers by trade they have joined forces to establish the UK's first animal law firm, Advocates for Animals. Advocates for Animals' vision is to "live in a world where animals are protected by philosophically consistent laws which are regulated and enforced effectively." I am very grateful to have experienced time helping Advocates for Animals earlier this year and to have been able to learn from Edie, David and Alice, as well as the rest of the growing team and am grateful to Edie and David for taking time away from their very important work to talk about their work for All Creatures Great and Small.

Getting to know Edie Bowles and David Thomas:

1. What encouraged you both to get involved with animal law?

Edie- My interest in animal law stems from 2 things 1) my love of animals and 2) my desire to protect the vulnerable. I have always hated injustice and find it empowering to know I can challenge the injustice inflicted on animals through animal law.

David- a hatred of cruelty and oppression in all its forms. I feel as passionately about human injustice and as a lawyer I have done a great deal of human rights work. However, there are far more people, including lawyers, fighting for oppressed people and the sad reality is that, however terrible and extensive humankind’s inhumanity to people is, it is dwarfed by humankind’s inhumanity to animals. Animal law is in fact extremely varied, international in scope and intellectually challenging

2. Why have you founded AfA?

Edie & David- When working at Cruelty Free International together we were using animal law to further our client’s campaigning objectives. In doing this it became obvious that the law was being incredibly under utilised by other groups, largely due to a lack of specialist lawyers and the law being inaccessible. We did, however, notice an increase in different animal groups asking for legal guidance. As such we took the leap of faith and founded Advocates for Animals.

The aim at Advocates for Animals is primarily to assist our clients in their respective missions to protect animals. However, a secondary aim is to professionalise and normalise animal law.

Prior to Advocates for Animals there was the odd firm that did some animal law; however, this was largely inaccessible to most groups and activists. Other than that animal law was a volunteer-led practice area and still is in many countries. Volunteer support is important and we have been grateful to receive it (and have all spent our fair share doing it). However, it is only by establishing animal law as a professional area of law that animals can start to get their legal protections adequately enforced, whether that be through litigation or simply through providing expert and timely guidance; as would be the case in any area of law that affects humans.

In areas that affect humans, it is professional and specialist lawyers you encounter, from property transactions and family disputes through to defending and prosecuting potential criminal activity and ensuring human rights are protected. It is an injustice that for so long animals have not had their legal protections covered in the same way. Even if animal legal protections exist on paper, can they be called law if they are not adequately considered or enforced?

Having a professional area of animal law means time and expertise are made available to focus solely on the task of upholding animal legal protections, which, in turn, means an unparalleled depth of knowledge is being accumulated. It also means sustainable infrastructure is being built to ensure a continuity of the practice of animal law. None of this would have been possible if the practice area remained volunteer-led, as, unavoidably, animal law would be picked up and put down as and when other commitments dictate. It would also have meant a lack of honed expertise, time, resources and commitment, and a lack of status for animal legal protections.

3. How do you think your career as a solicitor in fields outside of animal law has helped your work at AfA?

Edie- Many legal skills are transferable, such as legal research, analysis and drafting. It is also the case that animal law spans many areas that you find yourself even using substantive law to help the animal law field. For example I had a short stint as an IP lawyer and I regularly help animal groups with IP related queries.

David- without question, for the reasons Edie gives. No area of law is hermetically sealed and I always advise aspiring animal lawyers that, if they want to become good animal lawyers, they have first to become good lawyers

4. Do you have any advice for anyone looking to pursue a career in animal law?

Edie & David - Our standard advice tends to be:

Trust your own journey. While your peers will be going down a very structured path of applications, vacation schemes and training contracts, your journey will not be as clear. Animal law is a new field and as such you really do need to blaze your own trail, which is absolutely possible.

It is worth considering what other area you could work in while you are waiting on an animal law job to come up, this might be a practice area that overlaps, such as public or criminal law or a different role in an animal charity, such as policy advisor. This is purely a practical point and does not mean giving up.

And finally, Action, Action, Action! This last point applies to anyone wishing to pursue any career, there are too many amazing people out there for you not to have to go above and beyond. This could mean attending relevant conferences, staying up to date on the law and jumping at any work experience.

5. What kind of work do you do on a daily basis and do you get a chance to work on international issues?

Edie & David- We work across the board with animal issues from wildlife, animals in research, farming, zoos, companion animals, with the goal of ensuring laws are effectively enforced and interpreted as Parliament intended.

For example one of the conditions of animals used in research is that tests are only carried out as a last resort, we work to make sure this is taken seriously as it so often is not. For example the European Chemical Agency has a principle of reading across data from one animal test of a chemical to a chemical of similar properties, this so often doesn’t happen, so duplicated and unnecessary animal tests occur. Or for example the fact that validated alternatives to animal tests exists, but that it takes years for those alternatives to get recognised in law and therefore the animal studies are still be carries out- despite the TMR.

In terms of farming we are working with clients on a few issues, from looking at some of the worst practices that exist in intensive farming, direct and systemic abuse animals face on farms and the poor enforcement of the law. A current matter we are working on involves broilers, these being chickens bred for their meat- 95% of which are intensive farmed. Intensively farmed chickens are grown to slaughter weight in 6 weeks, which leads to a whole range of issues such as leg deformities, heart problems and burns on their bodies caused by the amonia. Our clients position is that this is unlawful and are in discussions with defra about this. I am sure your listeners can appreciate how serious this is and how important it is that it is resolved.

We have a few matters on the go looking at wildlife trade under the Convention on international trade in endangered species- for both unlawful shipments under the convention and systemic issues with certain trades or countries.

We have also taken on a case that has looked into regulatory issues attached to fish farming in the UK, essentially that the framework is not fit for purpose and we would say unlawful. not to mention the awful treatment and conditions the fish live in, despite them being covered by welfare legislation.

We also advice groups on the risks attached to UI and how to mitigate these risks and advise them if they have any subsequent challenges from industry after the footage has been

released. We also help clients gather information under the freedom of information act.

6. What has been the most challenging aspect of trying to advocate for laws to better protect animals?

Edie & David- Seeing animals suffer is always difficult and something you can never get used to. In terms of law it is often very challenging to get public bodies to take the legal protections afforded to animals seriously. Enforcement tends to be low and penalties are weak.

7. Where do you hope AfA will be in the next 5 and 10 years?

Edie & David- It is our pleasure to be able to help clients with their highly effective and committed campaigns that help animals. We have found that legal input has greatly added to this work. We hope to be an established and permanent fixture on the animal protection landscape in the UK to continue doing this necessary work, so our clients can continue to do their great work.

8. If you could change or create one piece of legislation for animals, what would that be?

Edie & David- In terms of welfare protections the most groundbreaking and important thing that could happen is to reimagine the concept of unnecessary suffering. Currently it is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering; however, what is deemed necessary or not tends to fall in favour of human interests. It is important this changes and instead protects the animal from their perspective.

9. What would you say to people who think that one person alone cannot make a difference for animals?

I would say in part they are right. Improving the lives of animals has been a collective effort over a long history and will continue long after any of us are gone. However, the role each of us can play is so important to ensure that animals have committed, passionate and skilled people helping them. As Edmunde Burme said, ‘Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little’. 10. Where do you believe animal law in England and Wales (or the UK as a whole) is heading?

Edie & David- It is definitely a growth area, at the time of writing this the Government is considering many pieces of legislation to improve animal welfare, these include:

A ban on hunting trophy imports, a ban on live exports, a ban on keeping all primates as pets, a ban on fur and foie gras sales/import, a ban on the shark fin trade, a ban on marketing of low welfare tourism activities, such as elephant rides and a ban on puppy smuggling.

As important as improvements are, it is highly important that these laws are drafted in a way to be meaningful in practice. Having specialist lawyers available helps with this.

11. What is the greatest concern in relation to animals in the UK at the moment?

Edie & David- It is hard to pick one thing, but factory farming is deeply troubling due to the scale of suffering, environmental damage and risk to human health, which is unjustifiable by any metric. Animal experiments are also a concern as the suffering is immense and it does not always get the public’s attention like other areas do. 12. What do you think could be done to help spread the message about animal law?

Edie & David- Everything everyone is already doing. In my relatively short time doing this I have seen a huge increase in conference, talks, courses available and interested students. It is wonderful to see.

13. Is it possible for people to get involved with AfA's work?

Edie & David- Absolutely, we regularly receive input from committed volunteers. Anyone interested should reach out to info@advocates-for-animals.com

14. If there is one thing you would like people to know about AfA and animal law, what would it be?

Edie & David- There are sometimes differences of opinions in any field on how best to progress; however, Advocates for Animals is so proud to help all its clients across the animal protection field move things forward in any way possible. All of us involved have never seen such a group of passionate, committed and capable individuals.

Animal law is on the rise and we are here for it!