The Litigating and Legislating for Animal Rights Seminar Series launched with a timely discussion on aquatic animals—an often-overlooked group in legal and policy frameworks.

In recognition of World Aquatic Animal Day, Giulia Malerbi (ALI) joined Dr Paulina Siemieniec to examine the role of legislative reform in protecting aquatic animals as sentient individuals and species, with a focus on preventive bans against octopus farming.

Key Discussion Points:

🔹 The hidden legal and ethical challenges of protecting aquatic animals.

🔹 ALI’s advocacy for octopus farming bans—where and why these efforts have succeeded, ongoing challenges and broader implications, and how it’s shaping the future.

🔹 Lessons for legal professionals, policymakers, and animal advocates working to strengthen legal protections for aquatic animals.

This seminar provided valuable insights into the intersection of ethics and law with aquatic animal protection, highlighting legal strategies to drive meaningful change for aquatic animals.

You can watch the recording of this crucial conversation on how legal advocacy can turn the tide for aquatic animals.

Read the blog about this seminar on ICARE’s Substack.

​This seminar spotlights strategic litigation for chickens and ‘egg-laying’ hens, animals who remain among the most systematically exploited yet under-protected under existing legal frameworks. From landmark lawsuits to novel legal theories, the discussion explores how advocates are using the law to challenge industrial farming practices, enforce animal cruelty laws, and contest misleading corporate narratives that obscure the realities of animal suffering.

​We were honoured to welcome two trailblazing legal advocates for farmed animals:

🔹 Edie Bowles – Managing Director of Advocates for Animals and Executive Director of The Animal Law Foundation, Edie is a leading UK solicitor in animal law whose litigation and policy work has made her a respected voice across the UK, Europe, and Africa. She is behind the pioneering legal challenge against ‘Frankenchickens’— genetically engineered birds bred for extreme growth—and has advised nearly every major animal protection organisation in the UK.
🔹 Kathryn Evans – Staff Attorney at Legal Impact for Chickens, Kathryn works to ensure that animal cruelty laws are meaningfully enforced in the industrial agriculture sector. A graduate of NYU Law, Kathryn has litigated against humane-washing and brings a fresh and fearless approach to using the law for systemic change.

Whether you’re a legal professional, student, activist, or simply passionate about animal rights law and justice for animals, this seminar offers a unique opportunity to learn from leading litigators shaping the future of farmed animal protection.

Read the blog about this seminar on ICARE’s Substack.

The third seminar in ICARE's Litigating & Legislating for Animal Rights series will delve into the psychology behind judicial decision-making in animal rights litigation.

Our guest, Christopher Berry, Executive Director of the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) — the first and only US organisation dedicated to securing fundamental legal rights for non-human animals through strategic litigation, advocacy, and education — will discuss how judges seem to perceive and respond to animal rights cases.

Drawing on the NhRP's pioneering litigation work, Christopher will explore how judicial attitudes toward animal rights claims evolve over time. The conversation will also consider broader implications of these psychological dynamics for legal strategy, systemic change, and the future of animal rights law.

The seminar will take the format of a conversation with our guest, moderated by Dr Anna Caramuru Aubert, and conclude with a live audience Q&A, offering participants an opportunity to engage directly with these critical questions at the intersection of law, psychology, and animal rights advocacy.

We look forward to welcoming you back to the seminar series!