Gandhi is believed to have said the greatness of a nation can be measured by how it treats animals. Attorneys practicing animal law would agree. Whether filing lawsuits, helping prosecutors charge animal abusers or lobbying lawmakers, animal attorneys work to uphold state and federal laws that protect pets, wildlife and animals used for agriculture, entertainment and research.
The field of animal law has seen rapid growth in the last few decades: According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, more than 165 law schools in the U.S. and Canada offer a course on the subject, compared to only nine in the year 2000. Milwaukee attorney Joe Goode’s practice spans several specialties, including animal law. He spoke with us about that small but paw-some part of his practice.
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How did you get into the field of animal law?
I’ve been working as a trial attorney for 31 years, and I primarily deal with business-to-business disputes. I’ve always been an animal person, but I didn’t study animal law – I learned about it through experience.
In 2006, I was working in Madison when the sheriff seized 62 pit bulls from a dog-fighting ring. The dogs ended up at the Humane Society, but the shelter didn’t have the resources to deal with this many violent animals. I didn’t know anything about animal law but stepped in when a friend on the Humane Society board asked me to help. It was a pretty quick baptism by fire. [He ended up reworking its contract with the county.]
The animal world is filled with good-hearted people, but it’s not well funded. Our case went on for a long time, and it was resolved favorably. But I’ve seen animal shelters go out of business in situations like that. Most of them don’t get private practice lawyers like me to help with disputes.
What other kinds of animal law work have you done?
I’ve done a fair amount of work for shelters around the state, including six or seven large-scale seizures. I typically run interference on behalf of shelters that become an intake facility for animals, working with local law enforcement and sometimes the National Humane Society. Most seizures involve hoarding. In Waukesha County, I worked with the Humane Society after the fire department seized 350 chinchillas from a breeder’s home.
How many of these kinds of cases do you take?
Right now, animal law is probably 10% of my practice. There are very few animal lawyers in Wisconsin, so I get a lot of phone calls. But it can be time-consuming and emotional work, and it’s not necessarily lucrative. I typically don’t charge my full rate, and I often do things pro bono. I keep at it because, for a business lawyer, animal law can be a nice break from the norm. It also exposes me to people who are doing God’s work, and I want to do the same. Someone has to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.
