ANIMAL
DEFENDERS
OFFICE
Animal Law Outreach
The Animal Defenders Office loves getting out and about to raise awareness in the community about our goals and projects, and how we can help people help animals.
Below are some of our events. We hope to see you at one soon :)
RSPCA's Million Paws Walk 2023
Great animal law outreach at the annual RSPCA Million Paws Walk in Canberra on Sunday 28 May 2023. We talked to many members of the public and other community organisations about the law and animals and the need for reform on so many fronts. Thanks to RSPCA ACT for having us and to our volunteers for braving those early freezing temps!❤️
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ANU Law Careers Fair 2023
We marked International Women’s Day on 8 March 2023 at the ANU Law Fair with an ADO stall run by two women volunteers, international students Wenjie and Yuxuan, with our Principal Lawyer, Tara. All giving their time for a day of animal law outreach with local law students🙏⚖️🐾
#InternationalWomensDay2023
ANU O'Week
Market Day 2023
We had our first community outreach stall for the year at Market Day for ANU’s O-Week on 15 February 2023. We chatted about animals and the law to students studying everything from Accounting to Zoology. Great to see interest in animal protection and the law from students regardless of their field of study. We were grateful to everyone who stopped to chat and find out more, to those who joined the ADO as members, to all who signed our request to get Animal Law back on the curriculum at the ANU, and to our amazing volunteers for all their help during the day!💓
Canberra Canine Xmas Markets 2022
ADO volunteers had a great time getting out on the weekend at the Canberra Canine Christmas Markets for our last community outreach event for 2022! Lots of delightful dogs and some very merry santa suits, all on a beautiful Canberra summer’s day at the Belconnen dog park. Thanks to Rainbow Paws for organising a great event!👋
See here for information about the amazing host charity: The Rainbow Paws Program, which does great things for companion animals and their vulnerable human guardians.
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Million Paws Walk
2022
There was no better way to escape from all things political the day after the 2019 federal election than by surrounding ourselves with very apolitical dogs of all sizes, shapes, colours and natures at RSPCA ACT's Million Paws Walk. It was great to be amongst so many dog lovers, and to talk with so many people interested in animal law🧡
ANU Law Careers Fair 2022
ADO volunteers engaged in animal law outreach at the Australian National University ("ANU") Law Careers Fair on 23 March 2022. We talked to law students about volunteering and practising animal law, as well as how to use a law degree to help protect animals. Our thanks to the ANU for having the ADO, and to our volunteers for giving their valuable time to 'person' the stall all afternoon😍
ANU O'Week
Market Day 2022
We had a great day meeting new students at the ANU O’Week Market Day on Wednesday 16 February 2022, talking to them about animals and the law and animal protection in general. The day almost didn’t go ahead when the old ADO ute loaded up with all our stall gear wouldn’t start😰 Turned out the 10(!)-year old battery had decided to die overnight (how dare it!). But we got there eventually and had a solid day of animal law outreach to the next generation of professionals and changemakers.
Our thanks to our volunteers who endured some pretty hot temps in Canberra on the day! 😎☀🙏
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Rainbow Paws Doggy Xmas Party 2021
ADO volunteers dusted off the stall gear for our first outreach event after Canberra's 11-week lockdown. We headed out to the Belconnen Dog Park for Rainbow Paws' Doggy Christmas Party on Saturday 4 December 2021.
We had a great time and thank everyone who called by our stall, all the doggies who dragged their carers our way, and our wonderful volunteers (both two- and four-legged)! ❤🐾👣
See here for information about the amazing host charity: The Rainbow Paws Program, which does great things for companion animals and their vulnerable human guardians.
A Pooch Affair 2021
We had a great time ‘in the barnyard’ with all manner of canines at A Pooch Affair at Exhibition Park in Canberra on Saturday 19 June 2021, raising awareness about legal issues affecting animals and dogs in particular. The cold weather suited our hand-knitted pussy-power hats and dog coats! We thank those who purchased them and in doing so raised funds for our volunteer-run community legal centre😊 Huge thanks also to our dedicated volunteers, who were very generous with their pats and affection for any and every passing pooch!😍 Finally our thanks to the organisers for having us🙏🧡
ANU Law Fair 2021
The ADO participated in the ANU Law Fair on 23 March 2021. A BIG thank you to ANU Careers for having us. We met so many wonderful students and uni careers advisers at this year's Fair. It was great to be able to offer an alternative perspective on the law and legal careers, and give something to think about for those next-gen lawyers who want to, at some point in their career (whether now or in the future), do something that they are passionate about. Our thanks to our tireless stall volunteers, without whom this wouldn't be possible🙏🧡
ANU O'Week
Market Day 2021
On 17 February 2021 we had our first stall in a year! We attended the ANU’s O’Week Market Day. We spoke to lots of new students and signed up a swag of new members. It was great being out and about again, raising awareness about animals and the law! Thanks to our amazing volunteers who endured an extra long day on the stall due to COVID safety measures (starting early and finishing late so that student numbers could be spread out throughout the day) 🙏🧡
ANU O'Week
Market Day 2020
Lots of animal law outreach at ANU O’Week Market Day on 19 February 2020, talking to students not just from all disciplines but from all around Australia and also on exchange from overseas including Belgium, France, Poland, UK, The Netherlands, Denmark, India, Singapore – most of whom hadn’t heard about animal law, until they came to our stall😁 We also promoted our newest fact sheet which looks at animal sentience and the law, available here. Huuuge thanks to our super volunteers for helping out!🙌🧡
Living Green Spring
Vegan Market 2019
We had a great time at our stall at the fourth Living Green Vegan Market on Sunday 9 October 2019 in Canberra, where we talked to lots of people about animal law, how badly the law protects animals, and the urgent need for reform! Thanks to all who called by👏🧡👏🧡👏
And huge thanks to our amaaaaazing volunteers😍💕🙏
A Pooch Affair
2019
More animal law outreach last weekend at our stall at Canberra’s big doggie festival, A Pooch Affair 2019 ⚖🐕We talked to dog lovers about animals and the law, and raised awareness about our community legal work and the free services we offer. Thanks to all who called by our stall👋, to our volunteers for coming out on a weekend😍, and to the organisers for a very well run event🙌🎊🐶🐾
Million Paws Walk
2019
There was no better way to escape from all things political the day after the 2019 federal election than by surrounding ourselves with very apolitical dogs of all sizes, shapes, colours and natures at RSPCA ACT's Million Paws Walk. It was great to be amongst so many dog lovers, and to talk with so many people interested in animal law🧡
Living Green Autumn Vegan Market 2019
Thanks to everyone who visited our stall at the Living Green Vegan Market on Sunday 7 April 2019! It was a beautiful day, and we loved chatting to people interested in how the law affects animals, and why we need law reform in so many areas. We also raised some much needed funds to keep our unfunded, volunteer community legal centre going. We also had the odd moment to sample some of the cruelty-free goodies, like the vegan ice cream! 😋🍦🍧 Looking forward to the Living Green Vegan Market on
6 October 2019!
O'Week - University
of Canberra
We had a great day at University of Canberra’s Orientation Week Market Day on 6 February 2019. We talked to students from all disciplines about animals and the law, and about studying animal law at university. The University of Canberra doesn't currently offer a course on animal law, so we gauged student interest in having such a course at their institution. The interest was overwhelming!
Thanks as ever to our wonderful stall volunteers!
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Living Green
Twilight Market
We were really excited to be part of Canberra's first ever Living Green Twilight Market! We really appreciated the interest from market-goers in our animal-law community legal centre, and talking to people about using the law to defend animals. Thank you to everyone who visited and who supported our centre through our fundraiser merchandise and vegan wine!
And a massive thanks to our hard-working and totally dedicated volunteers!🙏😍🙏
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Cruelty Free Festival
Sydney 2018
We had a great day at the Cruelty Free Festival in Sydney's Alexandria on Sunday 11 November 2018.
We talked about animal law issues all day long😃, and were in the company of some really inspiring animal advocacy organisations👏😇
We also had wooonderful stall volunteers!!😍
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Living Green
Vegan Market 2018
We had lots of community support for our stall at the inaugural Living Green Vegan Market on Sunday 7 October 2018 in Canberra, where we engaged with market-goers about animals and the law and raised some valuable funds through our fundraiser merchandise and vegan wine– thank you everyone!👏🧡👏🧡👏
And huge thanks to our amaaaaazing volunteers!😍💕🙏
A Pooch Affair
2018
Fun animal law outreach on Saturday 16 June 2018 with dogs galore at
A Pooch Affair! We were in great company with all sorts of animal protection charities, from dog rescue groups to animal sanctuaries. We even met some fully qualified ‘court dogs’ from Nepean Therapy Dogs, whose dogs help young victims in court in the NSW ‘court dogs’ program!
The event was excellently organised as ever – our thanks to the organisers for having us.
Million Paws Walk
2018
Lots of animal law outreach at this year's Million Paws Walk run by RSPCA ACT. It was great to see so many people out with their dogs in support of this animal welfare charity. It was also a great opportunity to talk to people about animals and the law, and to watch some very patient dogs modelling our hand-knitted fundraiser dog coats. Thanks to everyone who called by our stall and supported our community legal centre.
Dominion
Canberra première
The groundbreaking Australian documentary Dominion premiered in Canberra on 18 April, and the ADO was there to witness it.
This extraordinarily powerful film highlights the huge difference between what is legal and what is ethical in our treatment of animals in this country. Congratulations to those involved in making the film, and to the Capital region community for supporting it - the event was sold out! If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you catch or host a screening soon – details here: www.dominionmovement.com/screenings
ANU Law Fair 2018
In a first for the ADO, we participated in the ANU Law Fair on 7 March 2018.
A big thank you to ANU Careers for having us. And on the eve of International Women's Day, a special thanks to the two lovely women who ran our stand! A large proportion of ADO volunteers are women so we are forever grateful to them and their endless capacity for compassion - and hard work! :)
ANU O'Week Market Day 2018
Great animal law outreach on Market Day at ANU O’Week, talking to a steady stream of students at the ADO stall. The students came from near and far, even as far away as Sweden and China!
This year Market Day happened to be held on 14 February 2018, so with our stall neighbours Vegan ACT and The Medical Advances Without Animals Trust, there was a whole lot of love for animals on campus this Valentine’s Day!
Tuggeranong Arts Festival 2017
Great day at the Whatever Floats Your Horse festival on the banks of Lake Tuggeranong to end our community outreach stalls on a high for 2017! The Festival was on Saturday 25 November 2017. We talked to new people about animals and the law, caught up with some familiar faces, and checked out the ‘Horse Float of Ideas’ – a unique, relocatable, experimental art space for local artists and community groups. We also launched our new fact sheet on racehorses and animal welfare laws - available here.
Cruelty Free Shop ACT First Birthday
We were honoured to be invited to be part of The Cruelty Free Shop's celebrations of its first year in business in Canberra on Tuesday 21 November 2017. There were lots of people celebrating a year of compassionate consumer choices in the Capital. ADO fundraiser wine from Goodwill Wine was offered to guests, and many picked up an extra bottle from our stall on the night.
Cruelty Free Festival 2017
We had a great time in Sydney at the Cruelty Free Festival NSW on Sunday 22 November 2017! We loved talking to so many people about animals and the law and the work of our community legal centre. There was an amazing array of cruelty-free food and market stalls. And a dramatic backdrop of the big ‘cutaway’ cliff face at the venue. Million thanks to our stall volunteers!
Living Green Festival 2017
We had a ball at the Living Green Festival on Sunday 1 October 2017 in Canberra! We loved meeting the huge numbers of people who visited our stall to find out more about the work of our community legal centre. The ADO is a major sponsor (privately funded) of this Festival, as it conveys a message of compassion and caring for humans, animals, and the environment to many thousands of people. Huge thanks to our fabulous stall team and big congrats to the Festival organisers.
A Pooch Affair 2017
We had another fun doggie-day-out at this year's A Pooch Affair in Canberra on Saturday 17 June 2017. It was great to chat to dog lovers about how the law treats dogs and other animals. It was also great to be there with some other amazing animal protection organisations. We're looking forward to next year's big doggie festival on Saturday 16 June 2018, same time same place! :)
What The Health Canberra première
On Tuesday 13 June 2017 we joined many eager film-goers at the Canberra première screening of the documentary What The Health. The première was held at the National Film and Sound Archive and was a
sold-out event. The film looks at what an animal-based diet does to our bodies and the planet, and was followed by a Q&A session with plant-based doctors and nutritionists. It was a great event to raise awareness about how the law treats farmed animals.
National Multicultural Festival 2017
It was great being part of Canberra's National Multicultural Festival on Sunday 19 February 2017, raising awareness about how our laws allow animals to suffer in so many different ways, and why we need law reform!
For the first time we were up in Civic Square, and despite the relatively out-of-the-way spot plenty of passers-by stopped for a chat!
ANU O'Week Market Day 2017
It was great meeting so many enthusiastic students from across the disciplines at this year's ANU O'Week Market Day on Wednesday 15 February 2017.
The ADO was amongst over 250 stalls at the event! Our volunteers worked hard all day talking about animals and the law and the various ways people can get involved.
RSPCA Cat Festival
ACT 2016
The ADO had a great time at our first RSPCA ACT cat festival on Saturday 19 November 2016. It was great hearing people’s stories about their love for these animals. We talked to people about the responsibilities of cat owners under the law. Our new fact sheet about the Australian Government’s ‘2 million cat cull’ also proved popular. You can find the fact sheet here.
The festival raised funds to help the RSPCA look after the 1000s of abandoned and neglected cats who end up at its shelter every year.
Cruelty Free Festival NSW 2016
Wow we are still catching our breath after a fantastic day at this year's Cruelty Free Festival NSW.
It was great to see people in their thousands flock to this celebration of compassion in Australia’s biggest city.
Congratulations to the organisers for another amazing event, and huge thanks to our wonderful stall volunteers!
Living Green Festival 2016
What a fabulous time we had at this year’s Living Green Festival! Congratulations to the organisers for a truly outstanding event! It was great to meet so many people interested in how the law treats animals and to be with so many other organisations promoting messages of compassion.
Our stall was run by fantastic volunteers - thank you thank you thank you!
See you all next year on 1 October 2017 – we can’t wait!
A Pooch Affair
2016
It was dogs galore at A Pooch Affair's second big outing at Exhibition Park in Canberra on Saturday 30 July 2016!
There was lots of interest in animals and the law. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the ADO stall for a chat (or to receive a pat), and to the organisers – another great dogs' day out!
Million Paws Walk 2016
We had a fun day at Million Paws Walk 2016. We met all kinds of pooches, from those who would make a teacup look big, to others who were more giraffe than dog! All were on their best behaviour, unlike the wind – it blew our marquee away twice!
Huge thanks to our wonderful volunteers who stood firm against the wind and managed to meet and greet almost every dog who passed by our stall!
ACT Multicultural Festival 2016
The ADO had a great day at the National Multicultural Festival on Valentine's Day 2016, talking to people about defending the animals we all love.
There was much interest in our petition to ban greyhound racing in the ACT, the problems with the regulation of rodeos in NSW, and the whole live export trade. Passers by even stopped to discuss the problems for animals in being property under the law!
Cruelty Free Festival Sydney, 2015
Wow – what a day at the Cruelty Free Festival NSW. So much interest in animal protection and the law?!
We ran out of most of our information material and were still chatting in earnest with hardy festival goers at the official closing time of 5pm. It was great to be at such a huge event celebrating so many aspects of ethical and compassionate living!
Living Green Festival 2015
The ADO had an amazing day at the Living Green Festival in the Nation's Capital! So did thousands of others too, as reported in the Canberra Times.
The ADO was a super proud sponsor of the Festival, which is Canberra's annual celebration of 'a kinder shade of green'.
Our super dedicated stall volunteers raised awareness about animal law and advocacy amongst Festival attendees, including the 4-legged variety!
A Pooch Affair
2015
The Animal Defenders Office was chuffed to be part of the inaugural A Pooch Affair, held at Exhibition Park in Canberra.
Dogs and their keepers had a fun day out at this event all about dogs. It even included a high tea for the canines!
Once again it was great to meet so many people who care so much for their pooches.
Million Paws
Walk 2015
The Animal Defenders Office absolutely loved meeting so many dogs and their carers at this year's Million Paws Walk. The dogs were sooo well behaved, and they all put their best paw forward to raise valuable funds and support for the RSPCA.
The event was super well organised, and once the sun came out to thaw the frost, it was a typically lovely late Autumn Canberra day.
Multicultural Festival 2015
The Animal Defenders Office had another great day meeting the community and raising awareness about animals and the law – this time at the ADO stall at Canberra’s massive National Multicultural Festival.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by for a chat, including ‘Jazz’ and friends(pictured)!
ANU O-Week
Market Day 2015
The ACT's first animal legal centre returned to the ANU for its Orientation Week market day on Wednesday 11 February 2015.
Once again the ADO team met with a wide range of students from across the disciplines but all interested in animals and the law!
Cruelty Free Festival 2014
The Animal Defenders Office travelled up to Sydney on 26 October 2014 to take part in our first Cruelty Free Festival! The new indoor venue was fantastic. Being part of the old railway workshops near Redfern, it was full of character.
It was a privilege to meet all the festival goers who stopped at the ADO stall to find out more about us, sign a petition, or take a fact sheet. We were also extremely grateful to our lovely local volunteers for their great help throughout the day!
The Animal Defenders Office was proud to sponsor the Living Green Festival 2014, which was on again for an amazing 4th year on Sunday 12 Oct 2014. The ADO launched its fabulous new logo designed by local artist Patrick Duthie at the Festival.
For the first time, the Festival featured a dog café, and the ADO was pleased to be able to provide the Festival organisers with information about the legalities of such ventures in the ACT.
Living Green Festival 2014
RSPCA's Million
Paws Walk 2014
The Animal Defenders Office got out amongst the ACT's dog lovers for the RSPCA's annual Million Paws Walk on Sunday 18 May 2014.
It was great meeting people who care about their companion animals, and also seeing all the different shapes and sizes of the canines who were lapping up the ADO water. We also met some other species, including a family of ferrets, and even a shingleback lizard!
ANU O-Week
Market Day 2014
The ACT's first animal legal centre hung out its shingle at the ANU O-week market day on Wednesday 12 February.
It was really great for the ADO team to meet such enthusiastic students from across the disciplines!
Multicultural Festival ACT 2014
The Animal Defenders Office joined hundreds of other local community organisations on 'CONTACT Canberra' day at the Multicultural Festival on Sunday 9 February 2014.
Fortunately we were under a big tree on the day, so managed to survive the near 40 degree temperatures. Despite the heat it was great to get the word out about the ADO to the general Canberra community.
We Love Life
Festival VIC 2014
As part of the Animal Defenders Office's first interstate venture, the team set up a stall in the lovely St Kilda Botanical Gardens for Melbourne's annual We Love Life summer festival on Saturday 1 February 2014.
It was great to raise awareness about the ACT's first animal legal centre in a different jurisdiction, and to chat with like-minded animal advocates on a sunny and not too ferociously hot Melbourne summer's day.
Living Green Festival 2013
On Sunday 13 October 2013 the Animal Defenders Office joined over 25 animal and environmental organisations at Canberra's Living Green Festival. The Festival is Canberra's annual vegan festival, and its motto is a 'kinder shade of green'.
In the first public outing for the ACT's first animal legal centre, the ADO team spoke to many festival attendees, and raised awareness about the organisation's goals and projects.