Animal champion Barr, J.D. '21, wins scholarship

Abbey and Toby

An alum of my torts class and president of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund at UMass Law (I'm a faculty adviser), Abbey Barr is one of three first-place national winners of the 2020 Advancement of Animal Scholarships.  The scholarships are awarded by the national Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) for supporting the organization’s mission “to advance the interests and protect the lives of animals through the legal system.”

Here's coverage of Abbey at ALDF; read more at UMass Law.  From hometown Falmouth, Mass., and a graduate of sociology from Keene State College in New Hampshire, Abbey is passionate about animal protection, besides being an energetic collaborator and valuable counsel to her peers.  I look forward to her vibrant advocacy as a member of the bar, and to the difference she's going to make in the lives of many of God's creatures.

RI SPCA officer speaks at UMass Law

Warzycha on RISPCA website

Joe Warzycha, humane law enforcement officer with the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RISPCA), talked to students at UMass Law on Thursday, March 21, about the legal framework underlying animal protection.  In 2018, Rhode Island (my home state) substantially beefed up its animal protection law (see changes summarized at Potter League for Animals), putting Little Rhodey in the "top tier" of Animal Legal Defense Fund ratings by state. Warzycha will soon be taking over leadership of the RISPCA, which is a private, nonprofit entity imbued with the legal authority to investigate and prosecute animal cruelty cases.  Warzycha is a U.S. Marine veteran and former police officer in East Providence, R.I.  He was invited to UMass Law by the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, a member organization of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and SALDF officers Kayla Venckauskas, '19, and Barnaby McLaughlin, '19.  The RISPCA is financially self sustaining and depends on tax-deductible charitable donations.

SALDF at UMass Law

UMass Law SALDF hosts speaker to explain service animals and ADA compliance

The UMass Law chapters of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) and the Asian Pacific Law Students Associations (APALSA) co-hosted speakers including Evan C. Bjorklund, general counsel of the Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD), in late January for a public event about service dogs and public accommodation laws.  Bjorklund's talk was recorded and produced for air by DCTV educational access.  View the video at DCTV here.

Evan Bjorklund on DCTV: Service Animals and ADA Compliance

UMass Law APALSA is led by Mali Lim, who by day is human services coordinator for community education and diversity for the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts.  UMass Law SALDF officers are Kayla Venckauskas, president; Barnaby McLaughlin, vice president; Kerina Silva, treasurer; and Kseniya Ruzanova, secretary.  Venckauskas was just appointed 2018-2019 editor in chief of the UMass Law Review and McLaughlin 2018-2019 I.T. editor.  Ruzanova is a member of Team 1L Torts.  Yours truly serves as faculty co-adviser for SALDF.