In one state, abused animals get a legal voice in court

HARTFORD, Conn.  — Many states have victim’s advocates or child advocates, people in the judicial system who represent those affected by crime or abuse. Now, one state has created legal advocates for abused animals, an experiment being watched nationwide for signs of success. There are eight approved volunteer advocates across Connecticut — seven lawyers and a University of Connecticut law professor, working with her students. It’s up to a judge to decide whether to appoint one, but they can be requested by prosecutors or defense attorneys. In the first six months of the law, advocates have been appointed in five cases.

“Every state has the problem of overburdened courts that understandably prioritize human cases over animal cases in allocating resources,” said the professor, Jessica Rubin, a specialist in animal law. “Here’s a way to help.”

The American Kennel Club, though, opposed the law, saying it could result in confusion over who is responsible for an animal and limit the rights of animal owners, including in cases in which someone else is charged with the abuse.
Supporters say those issues are easily handled by a judge. The law was created by the legislature and went into effect late last year. “Desmond’s Law” was named for a dog that was beaten, starved and strangled by its owner, Alex Wullaert, who admitted to the violence but avoided jail time under a probation program for first-time offenders that allowed his record to be wiped clean.

UConn law student Taylor Hansen, one of the volunteer advocates, this week was the first to testify in court, with Rubin by her side, making arguments in a dogfighting case involving three pit bulls. One emaciated dog with scars from fighting had been found wandering. The other two were found in a home filled with animal feces, rotting food and evidence of dogfighting. One animal had to be euthanized. Hansen described the abuse dogs suffered, talked of studies linking animal and human abuse, and explained why she believed the man accused of raising them to fight, 33-year-old Raabbi Ismail, of Bloomfield, should be barred from the same program Wullaert used.

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