Last night the Honourable Justice Ruth McColl AO, Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of NSW, launched the Voiceless Animal Law Toolkit. The launch was part of the Voiceless 2009 Awards Event, where this year’s Voiceless Grant recipients and inaugural Voiceless Media Prize winner were announced. 

Speaking at the launch, Brian Sherman AM, Voiceless’s Managing Director, said “People often ask why animals need lawyers. With the level of animal cruelty sanctioned by the law in Australia, the real question should be ‘why don’t animals have lawyers already?’ I am pleased that Voiceless has produced this wonderful Toolkit to help build the animal law movement, which will in turn give voices to the million of animals subjected to legalised cruelty on factory farms and in other areas of Australian society.”

The Toolkit is a snapshot of the status of the animal law movement in Australia, and was produced in recognition of the momentum and growth of this area of law. It is a practical and educational resource for law students, legal practitioners, academics and animal advocates wanting to get involved in the animal law movement. The Animal Law Toolkit:

• Examines key animal law issues
• Provides animal law course offerings
• Lists professional animal law associations
• Contains animal law case notes, resources and other valuable information for budding animal lawyers.

In launching the Toolkit, Her Honour Justice McColl said, “By preparing such a valuable practical tool the authors of the Toolkit clearly recognise the path ahead, barely ploughed as it is, must be based on solid foundations. By creating the Toolkit they are arming the legal and general community with information necessary to ensure the animal law movement can be well and properly understood.”

Katrina Sharman, Voiceless’s Corporate Counsel and lead author of the Toolkit, said today, “It is encouraging to see lawyers from diverse backgrounds taking an interest in animal law and wanting to use their skills to take a stand against the institutionalised suffering of animals. Animal law in Australia is no longer a fringe social justice movement. With Australia's key academic and political institutions taking an interest in the area, it has officially become mainstream.”

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