Most of the public is unaware of standard practices in modern-day factory farming. Both state and federal laws suffer from multiple deficiencies in failing to protect farmed animals from cruelty. As a result, organizations devoted to animal protection, including Mercy For Animals, have undertaken numerous recent undercover investigations of factory farms, which expose conditions to the public and lead to criminal convictions for farmed animal abuse.

In response, the industry has lobbied successfully for anti-whistleblower bills called 'ag-gag' legislation. This talk will discuss the legal aspects of undertaking undercover investigations into farms, and the challenges in obtaining convictions in light of holes in laws protecting animals and recent attempts to restrict investigators from obtaining and publishing footage.

Click here for recent investigations and convictions obtained by Mercy For Animals.

(Lunch will be served).

Hosted by Stanford Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Co-sponsored by Food Law and Policy Society, American Constitution Society, Appetite For Change, People for Animal Welfare, and the Speakers Bureau.

About the Speaker

Vandhana Bala serves as general counsel for Mercy For Animals where she leads criminal prosecutions of farmed animal abusers, develops lawsuits, and initiates complaints to governmental agencies relating to illegal agribusiness operations.

Vandhana began her legal career at a global law firm and later started her own practice through which she routinely handled a wide range of commercial matters, companion animal issues, and criminal cases. Since joining Mercy For Animals, she has overseen investigations that resulted in successful criminal prosecutions of farmed animal abusers, including the first-ever felony conviction for cruelty to factory-farmed poultry and charges of criminal animal abuse brought against factory farm owners. She also filed a successful petition with the Federal Trade Commission regarding false advertising by an egg factory farm.

Vandhana aspires to bring about a day when animals are viewed as more than mere items of personal property in the eyes of the law.

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