Fundraising For and About Animals

Camille Labchuk is an animal rights lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice—Canada’s only animal law advocacy organization.

 

Growing up in Prince Edward Island, Camille remembers vividly the day she first saw footage of the commercial seal slaughter on television. Later in life, she visited the ice floes with Humane Society International / Canada to document the seal kill, and it was then that she knew she would dedicate her life to fighting on behalf of animals. Camille left her job, earned a law degree to assist her in this fight, and is now one of Canada’s leading animal rights lawyers.

 

Animal Justice aims to create a legal and political system where animals and their rights are respected. Animal Justice lawyers fight legal cases in courtrooms across the country, work to promote tough new animal protection legislation, and help ensure laws already on the books are being enforced.

 

Some of Camille’s most notable legal work includes filing a misleading advertising complaint against jacket company Canada Goose, which falsely claims its use of coyote fur trim is ‘humane’ and ‘ethical’. The legal complaint forced an investigation of the cruel company. She also fought in a court case to save the Chatham 21—dogs rescued from a dogfighting ring that authorities are attempting to kill. In 2015, Animal Justice intervened at the Supreme Court of Canada and convinced judges on the top court to state that protecting animals is a fundamental societal value.

 

Some of Camille’s other work includes fighting for Bill C-246—which would have shut down the brutal cat and dog fur trade; combatting trophy hunting, circuses, zoos, and aquariums; banning shark fin imports; and tackling puppy mills. As a former board member with Mercy For Animals Canada, Camille also helped expose hidden cruelty in the farming system.

 

She is a frequent lecturer on animal law, a regular contributor to publications like the Globe and Mail, iPolitics, and Huffington Post, and her work has been featured in countless media stories.

 

Before law school (2012 graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law), Camille managed communications for Humane Society International/Canada, and served as press secretary to Elizabeth May, leader of Canada’s Green Party.

 

Check out her website: www.animaljustice.ca