ARLAN WEB SITE REVIEW (July 2002)

The Animal Legal Defense Fund
http://www.aldf.org/

By Deidre Bourke

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit group of attorneys based in the United States that works to defend animals from abuse and exploitation. Founded in 1979, and with more than 100,000 members, ALDF is one of the oldest and largest of the legally orientated animal advocacy groups in existence today.

The ALDF website contains a plethora of information, from updates about the group and its activities, news of upcoming conferences and seminars, to legal information and resources. If you interested in the area of animal law, and the types of cases and legal issues emerging in this field, the ALDF site is an ideal starting point.

The “accomplishments and goals” section of the website outlines the varies cases and campaigns that ALDF has taken or won on behalf of animals, and includes landmark cases such as winning on the issue of standing to give animal rights advocates the right to challenge federal agencies over treatment of animals, to successful suits preventing several wildlife culls.

The “cases and campaigns” section of the site contains information on several current ALDF cases and campaigns including information on recent “loss of companionship” cases in the U.S.; the Great Ape Legal Project that aims to establish legal rights for nonhuman great apes such as a right to life and liberty and protection from torture; and also ALDF’s “Zero Tolerance for Cruelty” campaign that aims to ensure that animal abusers are aggressively prosecuted. ALDF has also prepared a series of “legal information packets” which are available on line from their website. These cover some of the more common areas of animal law, including materials on: veterinary malpractice suits, landlord/companion animal issues, “vicious” dog defense cases, estate planning for animals, suing for wrongful death or injury of an animal, information on damages and recover aspects of animal cases and even one on coping with the death of a companion animal.

The site also allows you to join ALDF online. It is easily one of the most informative and inspiring animal law websites on the net!