A group of students at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center organizes toy collecting drives, volunteers at shelters and educates the public to aid animals as part of the University chapter of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund.
The broader organization works to expand animal legal rights, provide assistance to prosecutors pursuing cruelty cases and encourage stricter enforcement of laws aimed at curbing animal abuse.
“[In Louisiana] we’re not super progressive on the protections we afford our animals,” said president Joy Reeves, citing the failure of past state legislation to increase animal safety and welfare, such as restrictions on driving with pets loose in the bed of pickup trucks.
Ignorance regrading the amount of attention and effort pets require and what constitutes safe conditions for them result in many tragic cases, SALDF vice president Stephanie Buehler said. Many leave animals outside unsheltered during extreme weather.
“I think people are like ‘Oh, it’s an animal. It’s got fur. It can survive freezing temperatures,’” Buehler said.
The SALDF plans to host speakers from the Nonhuman Rights Project, which holds that nonhuman primates deserve some Constitutional rights and protections, during their upcoming visit to Louisiana this month.
The Nonhuman Rights Project is pursuing the release of two chimpanzees, Hercules and Leo, from the control of University of Louisiana’s New Iberia Research Center, because of extensive experimentation the chimps have been subjected to.
The SALDF also aims to inspire law students to become more involved in animal related cases when they become attorneys, Buehler said.
Treasurer Brandon Piérre-Thomas said the motivation his toy teacup chihuahua, Chloe, gave him in his studies as an undergraduate inspired his interests in promoting the welfare of animals as a law student.
“I credit Chloe with getting me through the undergraduate experience,” Piérre-Thomas said. “When you do bad on a test, get a bad grade, you’re really sad … you go home and see that face waiting for you at the door with a smile to let you know everything is OK and someone out there still loves you.”
The legal status of animals is often inconsistent. Pets can be the beneficiaries of trusts and life insurance policies like humans. However, someone who kills another person’s pet is committing property destruction in the eyes of law, Buehler said.
“One day, I plan on going into the Legislature and making it so that pets are no longer property,” Piérre-Thomas said “They’re extended members of the family.”