The University of Toronto Law School is introducing a new program focused on animal law.
“It feels, a little bit, like a long time,” said Angela Fernandez, a law school professor and director of the new program.
“We’ve gotten to the point where now with the resources and the projects … we’ve now come to something that really deserves the full name as a program,” Fernandez said.
The law school has previously offered courses, but the program will now allow students to explore the topic more deeply through courses, seminars, fellowships, advocacy outreach, and research opportunities.
While there are organizations like Animal Justice to help people navigate animal welfare laws and policies, and law programs across the country offer a few different animal-related courses, U of T is the first animal law program at a Canadian law school.
At a time when incidents surrounding animal welfare, such as captivity and deaths at Marineland, and dog testing for a heart study in London, Ont.
“It will somehow build and implement different resources for students,” Fernandez said.
Kate Shackleton is a third-year law student who has taken animal law courses and previously participated in research on the topic. While she isn’t interested in becoming an animal lawyer, she said the interdisciplinary nature of the program will help her be a better litigator.
“We have people at this law school who are interested in so many different things,” Shackleton said.
“We have people who like public law, people who are interested in family law, property law, even corporate law. The knowledge you gain about animal law through school and especially through this program will help inform their practice in those areas.”
Program puts animal personality front and center, advocate says
There is definitely a change in how people talk about animals, moving away from seeing them as property and more like family members, Fernandez said.
“There’s definitely something going on with the status of animals,” she said. “Of course, morally, socially speaking… how much the law reflects that is really important.”
Former Marineland coach Phil Demers, now turned anti-processing activist, agreed.
The federal Ending Whales and Dolphins Act of 2019 was the first time animals were addressed through their personalities, Demers said. He said more lawyers with expertise in animal law in the legal world would benefit the system.
“The more that we explore the kind of concept of how to keep the interests of the animal versus the interests of the industry, you know, the broader the protection will become,” Demers said. “With the new blood and new energy coming into the space, it really opens up the opportunity to see what becomes.”
Demers has been in a long legal battle with Marineland. The park sued him in 2013 , claiming he trespassed and planned to steal the park’s 800-pound walrus, Smooshi. Demers countersued that same year for defamation and abuse of process. He also used the lawsuit to help secure the release of the walrus and her calf, which took place in 2023 — a year after the legal battle was settled amicably.
“Having survived… 13 years of litigation, hopefully it gets a little easier in the future,” Demer said.
More knowledge about animal laws can also help pets, says Humane Society
Phil Nichols, executive director of the Toronto Humane Society, says he’s also happy to see the program launch, especially because it should create more awareness of the law as it applies to people’s pets.
With the resources the program offers and the training offered to young lawyers, Nichols said it will help organizations like the Humane Society provide resources and support to people who are experiencing trouble with animal laws.
“One of the main reasons we still see animals coming in is housing instability and fighting,” Nichols said. He says that with greater recognition of family members as pets, that could lead to more overlap with housing and human rights laws.
He said that more research into animal laws also allows people to see what happens to animals when they are not treated as property, especially when looking at the circumstances surrounding divorce.
“When animals are involved [in divorce] there are real consequences for their health and well-being, as well as how they are treated. I think we need to have more awareness and improvement in how this is all handled.”
