Webinar Alert: "Multilateral Perspectives in Animal Protection and Practice" by ALC, NALSAR University

Animal Law Centre, NALSAR University is hosting India's first five-series webinar dedicated to Animal Protection Laws and practice. The webinar aims to be a platform for students, animal rights practitioners, faculty and young professionals to gain insights about the pervasiveness of animal protection and its impact on environmental law, public health law and criminal law, and the career and educational opportunities within it.

About the Animal Law Center

Accredited in A++ Grade with a score 3.60 on a 4 point scale by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), this premier institution of higher learning has steadfastly been recognized as amongst the top three law schools in India.

The Animal Law Centre (ALC) at NALSAR is the country’s first and so far, the only centre dedicated to research on animal laws. In the past, we have successfully run a one-year PG Diploma in Animal Protection Laws.

About the Webinar

ALC is conducting India's first week long webinar, where we have panels and individual speakers from across India and the world, to deconstruct the movement, and elucidate on the necessity for involvement from the community. The theme of the Webinar series is "Multilateral Perspectives in Animal Protection and Practice".

The idea behind the webinar is to demystify the notion that an education, or careers in the animal protection space are non-rewarding, or as a lot of students in India may believe, are non-existent. Our speakers come from a varied range of experience, and through this webinar series, we would like to create an open floor where animal welfare organizations, practitioners, researchers and students can collaborate and discuss the causal nature of animal welfare, environmental welfare and public health can help lead us to a more compassionate and sustainable planet.

Session-wise write-ups

1. Litigating in Animal Law : A Global Perspective, Ms. Daina Bray, Senior Litigation Fellow, Yale Law School, LEAP Programme and Co-Chair, ABA International Animal Law Committee.

The Animal Protection space in India is garnering more and more support with more people going plant-based and being aware of animal welfare issues. Interestingly, there is an increase in the number of people,and students, who seek to make their careers in the animal protection space, for various reasons. What was once considered a space with no opportunities for young professionals and students, is filled with vibrant, passionate individuals and organizations seeking to protect animals and reduce and eradicate their suffering in the nation, and eventually, across the globe.

In this session, our speaker, Ms. Daina Bray, an award winning animal protection lawyer, gives her experience as she has navigated her career through the animal protection space, and her advice to young career professionals and students. As the Senior Litigation Fellow at Yale Law School’s Law, Ethics and Animals Program and is the project manager for LEAP’s Programme on Climate, Animal, Food and Environmental Law and Policy Lab Initiative, she also has a multitude of experience litigating and heading initiatives as Co-Chair of American Bar Association’s International Animal Law Committee and Executive Council Member at the Tennessee Bar Association Animal Law Section.

2. Food Systems and Sustainability : What does it mean for Animals and Public Health?, Mr. Jayadeep Sinh, Senior Outreach Co-ordinator, Vegan Outreach India and Mr. Shardul Dabir, EX-Innovation and Ops Specialist, The Good Food Institute-India, Radhika Ramesh, Policy Associate, Good Food Institute of India.

Public health, over recent years, has garnered a large amount of attention due to unsustainable food production practices, especially in industries revolving around intensive animal agriculture. We are what we eat, is an old adage, and in this session, the Speaker(s), whose expertise pan across food policy, sustainable food solutions as well as plant-based eating programmes talk about the small steps that can be taken by individuals, which play a large role in reducing, and perhaps, someday soon, ending animal suffering.

Our speakers, Jaydeepsinh Jhala(Senior Outreach Co-ordinator, Vegan Outreach), Radhika Ramesh (Policy Associate, Good Food Institute of India) and Shardul Dabir(Ex-Ops and Innovation Specialist, Good Food Institute of India) bring to the table, their experiences in the plant-based foods and sustainable food space, to talk about the career opportunities and the journey towards a more sustainable food system which has ripple effects on public health, animal welfare and the environment.

3. Campus, Animals and Student Movements, Founders of Animal Liberation Committee (SLS-Pune), SNHP(NLSIU Bangalore), Animal Cell, ILS Pune.

This panel aims to bring together founders of Animal Welfare related Committees from top law schools across the country, including Sonia Shad (NLSIU- Founder of Society for Non-Human Persons), Adv. Bhavya Pande (ILS Law College - Founder of Animal Law Cell) and Ms. Aditi Bardia and Ms. Heena Malhtora (SLS-pune, Founders and Heads of Animal Liberation Committee) . They have spearheaded initiatives with the support and guidance from the administrators and faculty members. In this panel, we have the founding members/present heads of these initiatives, telling the audience about their journey, the work they do for animals and what the hope they have for student initiatives and animal welfare, being students of law and policy.

4. Animal Cruelty and Human Violence : An escalation from Animals to Humans, Mr. Mark Randell, Ukraine Campaign Manager, Naturewatch Foundation and Director of Operations, Hidden-in-Sight

Studies have shown that in over 48% of cases of domestic violence victims delay leaving or remain in abusive situations because of their pets. Yet fewer than 10% of domestic violence shelters house pets and almost half of all victims/survivors do not want to be separated from their pets. It then becomes pertinent to understand the causality between the escalation of violence against animals to violence against humans. In criminology, one of the characteristics that have stood out whilst observing serial offenders, is the aspect of cruelty against animals.

Our speaker, Mr. Mark Randell, who has over forty years of experience as a UK Police Detective, and now conducts multiple covert investigations on Animal Cruelty cases, converses with Sonia Shad about the implications of cruelty against companion animals, and what it means to larger society. He also elucidates on the ways in which such cruelty can be addressed, and the importance of policy interventions that can help both animals, and humans in such distressing situations.

5. Education in Animal Protection Laws and the Global Scope, Mr. Jayasimha Nuggehalli, Co-founder and COO, Global Food Partners and Adjunct Professor, NALSAR University and Prof. Vivek Mukherjee, Assistant Professor, NALSAR University and Faculty Co-ordinator, Animal Law Centre

The last session hopes to bring together all the learnings from our previous sessions to open up a community of animal protection supporters to strengthen the community, foster better collaborations and provide guidance and support to newcomers or those interested in being trained or establishing a career in the animal protection/rights/welfare space. The session speakers, Mr. Jayasimha Nuggehalli and Prof. Vivek Mukherjee aim to elucidate the need for education in Animal Protection and the wide-reaching impacts it has on lawyers, law enforcement agencies and law schools. They aim to illustrate the global scope of such education and talk about their experiences in the space, while opening the floor to interactions from our audience.

Mr. Jayasimha Nuggehalli is presently the co-founder and COO of Global Food Partners, and has been the founding Director of the Animal Law Centre, with many years of experience and expertise in the animal protection movement. Prof. Vivek Mukherjee is presently the Faculty Co-ordinator of the Animal Law Centre and teaches International Law and Animal Law at NALSAR University.

Webinar Details

Date: 1 July to 5 July, 2022

Time: 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm IST

Place: Virtual (On Webex Platform)

Certificate: All attendees will be given a certificate

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