The Animal Law Podcast - Animal Law Podcast #97: The Case of the Miserable Monkeys and the Apathetic Agency

Animal Law Podcast #97: The Case of the Miserable Monkeys and the Apathetic Agency

06/28/23 • 68 min

On this episode of the podcast, I will be talking, once again, with Katherine Meyer, who is the Director of Harvard Law School’s Animal Law and Policy Clinic, about a recent decision in a case handled by the clinic entitled New England Anti Vivisection Society (now known as Rise for Animals v Elizabeth Goldentyre). This case involves the provision of the Animal Welfare Act that requires, or pretends to require, psychological enrichment for primates who are covered by the Act, such as those languishing in laboratories. This is an interesting area of law, but this interview goes from interesting to basically unbelievable as we hear the story of how, under Professor Meyer’s guidance, students at the clinic did some digging and managed to uncover shocking conduct by the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the department within the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the Act. We will also discuss the enormous value of clinical education for law students.

*We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read Mariann’s interview with Katherine Meyer.

Katherine Meyer is the Director of Harvard Law School’s Animal Law & Policy Clinic, where she teaches students how to become advocates for animals in captivity and the wild. Prior to joining Harvard Law School, for 26 years she was a partner in the public interest law firm Meyer & Glitzenstein, described by the Washingtonian Magazine as “the most effective public interest law firm in Washington, D.C.” She has extensive federal and state court litigation experience in a variety of public interest fields, including Animal, Environmental, Administrative, Public Health, Consumer Protection, and Open Government law.

**********

The Animal Law Podcast is proud to partner with The Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy, Inc., a US-based national independent think tank pursuing a paradigm shift in human responsibility towards, and value of, non-human animals by advancing animal law, animal policy, and related interdisciplinary studies.

The Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy, Inc is dedicated to producing and disseminating outstanding, independent, academic, and public policy research and programming; and pursuing projects and initiatives focused on advancing law and policy pertaining to animals.

**********

This episode of the Animal Law Podcast is sponsored in part by the Vermont Law & Graduate School’s Animal Law and Policy Institute.

Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Animal Law and Policy Institute trains tomorrow’s animal advocacy leaders to advance animals’ legal status through education, scholarship, policy development, community engagement, and litigation. Engaging with advocacy organizations, communities, journalists, and policymakers, the Institute serves as a resource hub for animal law and policy issues.

**********

You can listen to the Animal Law Podcast directly on our website (at the top of this page) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher. Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning, weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its thirteenth glorious year!

*We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read Mariann’s interview with Katherine Meyer.

**********

This episode of the Animal Law Podcast is sponsored in part by the Vermont Law & Graduate School’s Animal Law and Policy Institute.

**********

Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning, weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its thirteenth glorious year!

Previous Episode

Animal Law Podcast #96: What Happened to the Pigs at the Supreme Court?

If you are pleased that California’s Prop 12 (which, in a small but important way, limits the amount of suffering that can be imposed on mother pigs) survived in the Supreme Court, but you are still unclear as to exactly why and exactly who voted for what, you have come to the right place. Today I will be talking, once again, with Professor Michael Dorf, and we will be unpacking the Court’s recent decision in National Pork Producers v Ross, where the court, by a very fractured majority, upheld Prop 12. If you have listened to Professor Dorf’s prior interview on the case, you already know that he is very capable of making seemingly incomprehensible topics, such as the dormant commerce clause, much more comprehensible than you thought possible. I think you will find that that is what he does here, and we will also discuss whether this case is, in fact, a big deal for animals.

*We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read Mariann’s interview with Michael Dorf.

Michael C. Dorf is the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, where he teaches constitutional law, federal courts, and related subjects. He has authored or co-authored six books (including with Sherry Colb, Beating Hearts: Abortion and Animal Rights) and over one hundred scholarly articles and essays for law journals and peer-reviewed science and social science journals. His most recent work of scholarship (co-authored with Sherry Colb) is “If We Didn’t Eat Them, They Wouldn’t Exist”: The Nonidentity Problem’s Implications for Animals (Including Humans), in The American Journal of Law and Equality. He also frequently writes for the general public. In addition to occasional contributions to The New York Times, USA Today, CNN.com, The Los Angeles Times, and other wide-circulation publications, Professor Dorf has been writing a bi-weekly column since 2000 and publishes a popular blog, Dorf on Law. Dorf received his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard. He served as a law clerk for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court. He maintains an active pro bono practice, mostly consisting of writing Supreme Court briefs.

**********

Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning, weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its thirteenth glorious year!

Next Episode

Animal Law Podcast #98: The Animal Law Firm

On this episode, we have something a bit different. I will be talking with Kristina Bergsten, the owner and founder of The Animal Law Firm, a Colorado law firm with a multi-state practice. For those of you who are graduating from Law School or just looking to change your career and wondering whether you can make a living doing animal law, Kristina is here to tell you the answer is a resounding yes. Her firm specializes primarily in companion animal issues which, of course, are important and often underserved in and of themselves but also, in Kristina’s eyes, are part of the process of waking people, and the legal system, up to the idea that animals matter and the people who care about them matter too. This was a fascinating conversation and I’m sure it will be inspiring to many of you.

*We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read Mariann’s interview with Kristina Bergsten.

“Kristina Bergsten is the owner and founder of The Animal Law Firm. She started practicing animal law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before moving to Colorado to be close to mountains and, of course, lots of animals! As a vegan, her passion for animal rights extends to every area of her life. Her current pet projects (pun intended) consist of writing, directing, and producing her podcast, titled “Fighting for the Underdog,” founding a charitable foundation to help human and animal welfare organizations, writing novels, and spending lots of time with her furry children, Maggie and Sophie.

Kristina is a 2018 COBALT Class graduate, a Board Member of Colorado Voters for Animals and the Denver Indian Family Welfare Center, an active member of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations, a member of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, and a nationally and internationally recognized animal advocate.”

**********

Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning, weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its thirteenth glorious year!