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Law & Policy

Where to study Animal Law

Australia
In the last few years, the discipline of animal law has gained substantial momentum in Australia. We are pleased to be able to provide the following list of courses that we understand are currently available for those who wish to study animal law in Australia.

Australian National University (Canberra, ACT): 'Animals and the Law' is an undergraduate law elective which was taught for the first time by the Ven. Alex Bruce in 2009. It will next be offered in Semester 1, 2011 .
Bond University (Robina, Gold Coast, Qld): 'Animal Law' (LAWS13-216), has been offered in 2008 and 2009. The course is available to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Cross-institutional study is available. The course is taught by Jackson Walkden-Brown and is next scheduled for the semester commencing January 2011.
Flinders University (Adelaide, SA): 'Animal Law' (LLAW2208) was taught for the first time in 2009 and is available to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Cross-institutional study is also available. The course is next scheduled to be taught in 2011 as a Summer intensive. For further details contact Lesley Petrie.
Griffith University (Nathan Campus, Qld): 'Animal Law' (5069LAW) is an undergraduate course which was first taught at Griffith Law School in January 2007. The course has been run annually since then and is available to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Cross-institutional study is also an option. 'Animal Law' is taught by Steven White and is next scheduled to be taught in December 2010.
Southern Cross University (Byron Bay Campus, NSW): This is an undergraduate course in SCU’s Summer School program. The course was last taught in December 2006.
University of Melbourne (Carlton, VIC): 'Animal Welfare Law' (730-458) is an undergraduate course which will be offered to students at Melbourne Law School in semester 2, 2010. Animal Law was also taught as an intensive LLM course, in November 2009. Cross-institutional enrolment enquiries should be directed to Melbourne Law School.
University of New South Wales (Kensington, NSW): UNSW, which was the first law school in Australia to teach animal law, introduced the course as a postgraduate elective in 2005. 'Animal Law' (LAWS3144) is now available to undergraduates and graduates interested in enrolling as a single (non-award) course. Others who would be interested in undertaking the course are encouraged to contact the course convenor, Tara Ward. The Course, which was last taught in January 2010, is likely to be scheduled as a Summer intensive for 2010/2011 . Follow this link for further details.
University of Sydney (Camperdown Campus, NSW): 'Animal Law' (LAWS3410) was taught for the first time in 2009 and is available to undergraduate students. Cross-institutional study and interdisciplinary studies may be applied for. The course has been scheduled again for semester 2 of 2010 and is expected to run for over 10 weeks. For further details contact Celeste Black.
University of Wollongong (Wollongong, NSW): 'Animal Law' (LLB366) was first taught as an undergraduate elective subject in Spring 2008. The course, which is open to cross-institutional enrolment, was last taught as an intensive in March 2010. Expressions of interest in a 2011/2012 course should be directed to Elizabeth Ellis.

If you require further information about any of the animal law courses above, please contact the relevant Law School directly. If you wish to study animal law at a University that is not listed above, we encourage you to write to the Head of that Law School and enquire whether they intend to teach animal law in the future.

Please contact us if you hear about any other animal law courses that are not listed above or if you become aware that animal law is taught as a component of a course offered at your Australian law faculty.

For an interesting article which looks at the growth of animal law go to http://www.animallaw.info/, click on Volume 4 of the Journal of Animal Law (2008) and view the article by Peter Sankoff entitled 'Charting the Growth of Animal Law in Education'.

Overseas

New Zealand

Canterbury University Faculty of Law (Christchurch): Undergraduate course last taught in 2007.

Auckland University Faculty of Law: Animal Law was first taught as undergraduate course in 2006. It has been taught every year since. The course, which is being taught by Peter Sankoff, is next scheduled to be taught in 2011. Cross-institutional enrolment is available.
Massey University (offered as part of the Veterinary Law Course within the Masters of Veterinary Medicine Program).

United States

Animal law is now being taught in more than 110 law schools in the United States, including Harvard, Columbia and New York University. For further details about course offerings in the United States, we suggest that you visit the websites of the Animal Legal Defense Fund or the Center for Animal Law Studies.

Canada