On September 12, the U of T Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law launched its Animal Law program. Directed by animal law expert Angela Fernandez, it is the first program of its kind in Canada and aims to make critical space for this growing area of legal practice. 

Currently, it offers two courses: LAW253 — Animals and the Law and LAW327 — The Laws of Human and Animal Relations — a seminar taught by Man Ha Tse, the 2024–2026 Inaugural Postdoctoral Fellow in Animal Law. 

More than an elective

For the last four years, Fernandez has taught LAW253: Animals and the Law, which covers the treatment of non-human animals, welfare policies, Indigenous approaches to non-human animals, and legal protections for animals. In her view, the introduction of an animal law program has far-reaching implications for all members of the U of T law community.

“It opens up a world of possibilities for students… For faculty, they might think about ways in which their areas of research intersect with animals. Most legal subjects touch on them –– family law, property law, constitutional law, administrative law, wills and estates, environmental law, health law, criminal law, even contracts and torts,” Fernandez wrote in an email to The Varsity. 

“There’s an important message here also for the legal profession [in] that lawyers will be more and more interested in learning about [animal law] issues and moving into practice areas related to them.”

Daniel Kim, who graduated from U of T Law in 2025, was not always interested in animal law. “I’m actually not a big animal lover,” Kim wrote in an email to The Varsity, “at U of T, you need to take some courses to fill certain pre-requisites for graduation, and Professor Fernandez’s Animals and the Law class filled one of those pre-reqs and fit my timetable.” 

Kim struggled at first, but wrote that Fernandez “was super encouraging. She noted how not everyone in the field of animal law are animal lovers. Instead, everyone is united by a general distaste for cruelty towards animals.” Kim stuck with the class and wrote a research paper on pet custody disputes, which placed third in the Student Animal Law Research Paper Contest this week. 

“Incoming and prospective students will be entering U of T at a time when the image of ‘animal law is just an elective’ is no longer true,” Kim wrote. “As a result, I can see far more interest coming from students in understanding and researching about animal law in a serious manner.”

In an email to The Varsity, Animal Law Program Research Associate Kira Berkeley spoke to animal law’s legitimacy and argued that the creation of the program would have seismic effects for students, faculty, and animal rights movements. 

“It validates decades of advocacy and strengthens the animal rights movement by embedding these concerns within mainstream legal education,” Berkeley explained.

Looking forward

In her capacity as Research Associate, Krystal-Anne Roussel wrote to The Varsity that she will be focused on building partnerships within and beyond the university to make an impact on pressing animal law issues and ensure that the field is accessible to policymakers, advocates, and the public alike.

“I see this program helping to shape the future of animal law in Canada, creating a foundation for legal reforms that reflect society’s growing concern for animals and the environment,” Roussel wrote.

Looking ahead for students and faculty, Fernandez identified more possibilities for the program. “We will next be thinking about some kind of designation for law students in animal law, say if they do a certain number of courses or fulfill a writing requirement. It would be great for them to have that designation on their transcript moving out into the world to do animal-related work.”  

Fernandez also referenced opportunities for collaboration with other university faculty members in medicine and the arts who work on animal justice, environmental rights, and food politics.

“For Canada, we will likely see law faculties at other universities starting their own animal law programs, which would be wonderful. If they can then become inter-departmental or inter-faculty units integrated across the rest of the university that would be the dream.”