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Launch your career advancing legal protections for animals with a law or graduate degree from VLGS! 

Animal law and policy is a rapidly growing field with expanding career pathways. Animal advocates include attorneys, lobbyists, legislative staff in animal advocacy organizations, consultants to non-profits, animal care professionals, authors, professors, politicians, staff in government agencies, and in so many other capacities. Attorneys advocate for animal interests in civil matters including animal custody disputes, wrongful death, pet trusts, consumer protection, and veterinary malpractice in specialized firms, as part of their practice, or by providing pro bono services. They protect animals who are victims of crimes in local, state, and federal jurisdictions. Advocates also lobby for more legal protections, and expand regulatory and enforcement efforts through specialized divisions in federal and state departments.

The Animal Advocacy Careers site highlights many animal law and policy career paths and profiles of successful animal law attorneys. 

VLGS has long been a leader in the field of animal law and policy, and graduates haven been making a difference in the lives of animals for decades. VLGS alumni have successful animal law practices, and hold positions in animal advocacy, wildlife conservation, and environmental protection organizations such as:

  • Senior Staff Attorney, Humane Society of the United States
  • Captive Animal Law Enforcement Counsel, PETA Foundation
  • Founder, Animal Law Source and the Animal Law, Enforcement, Veterinary and Shelter Symposium
  • Director of Farm Animal Welfare Policy, ASPCA
  • Senior Staff Attorney of the Criminal Justice Program, Animal Legal Defense Fund
  • Director of Wildlife Law, Friends of Animals
  • Chief Deputy State’s Attorney (VT) specializing in animal cruelty prosecutions
  • Ocean Rights Manager, Earth Law Center
  • Legal Counsel, Animal Outlook
  • Senior Staff Attorney, Nonhuman Rights Project
  • Founder, Animal Partisan
  • Legal Counsel, Ocean Vision Legal
  • Partner, Evans & Page
  • Vice President for the Animal Cruelty and Fighting Campaign, Humane Society of the United States
  • Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, PETA Foundation
  • Associate Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity
  • Staff Attorney & Assistant to the Chairman, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Current Job Openings (March 2024)

Resources for Job Seekers

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