Preventing the Next Pandemic:
The Draft Convention on Animal Protection

Tuesday, March 1, 2022
4:30 – 6 p.m.

Julian Abele Room, Great Hall
with optional Zoom viewing

Moderator: Prof. Randall S. Abate, Director, Institute for Global Understanding

COVID-19, like many of its predecessors, including HIV-AIDs, Lyme Disease, Ebola Virus, Nipah Virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and Marburg Virus, was caused by a zoonotic virus. In other words, COVID-19, and many deadly viruses before it, spread to humans from animals in what are known as “spillover events.” Increasingly close interactions between humans and animals caused by deforestation, and human use of animals for human consumption, scientific research and testing, and entertainment create high-risk opportunities for zoonotic viruses to spill over from animals to humans. Unfortunately, despite the global public health crisis the world has faced over the last several years, the world is not any better positioned to prevent pandemics like COVID-19 from happening again. Join this international panel of lawyers and academics as they discuss how a newly proposed treaty, the Convention on Animal Protection for Public Health, Animal Welfare, and the Environment (CAP), holds the promise of being humanity’s first and best line of defense against future pandemics.

Panelists:

Laurie Morgan

Laurie Morgan is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution and Public International Law practices at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in New York. Her pro bono work is centered around public international law and animal law. She received her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a Global Law Scholar, and her bachelor’s degree from Leiden University College (The Hague, The Netherlands) in International Justice.

Rajesh K. Reddy

Rajesh K. Reddy directs the Global Animal Law and Animal Law Advanced Degree Programs at the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School. Outside of Lewis & Clark, he chairs the International Subcommittee of the Animal Law Section of the American Bar Association and serves as a board member for Minding Animals International. He has advanced human and nonhuman animal interests as part of his work for the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Human Rights Law Network in New Delhi, India.

Marcia Condoy

Marcia Condoy received a full scholarship from the Center for Animal Law Studies to pursue an LL.M. in Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School during the 2021-2022 academic year. She is a Peruvian lawyer with work experience in Constitutional Law and Human Rights, and investigative experience in International Law, International Human Rights Law, and Animal Law. She has been a Research Fellow at Ankawa International Human Rights Organization, where she was Director of the Center for Research and Defense of Vulnerable Populations in 2020. She is the AFADA Argentina Organization’s Peru correspondent. Currently, she directs the Animal Law practice of Preston+ Law Firm, the first law firm in Peru with an animal law specialization.