Timely Topics in Animal Law 2026

Senator Roy C. Afflerbach, Ret. is founder and President of The Afflerbach Group, LLC. He personally selects the clients, associates, and strategic partners with whom the firm works. In addition to directing the overall activities of the Group, he assists individual client-partners with strategic planning and is the Group’s principal lobbyist. Senator Afflerbach’s experience and access to government circles spans nearly fifty-six years, during which he has earned more than fifty public service awards. After serving in the United States Air Force, he served as senior staff in the Pennsylvania Senate, a two-term Member of the State House of Representatives, a three-term State Senator, and Mayor of the City of Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania. As a member of the PA House of Representatives, Roy chaired the Select Committee on Citizens with Disabilities. In the Senate, he served as Democratic Chairman of the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee, the Banking and Insurance Committee, and the Local Government Committee. Additionally, Senator Afflerbach served as the Majority Caucus Secretary, a position in which he was tasked with recommending and achieving bi-partisan Senate confirmation for more than 600 gubernatorial nominees in fifteen months. Senator Afflerbach also served as a member of the bi-partisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, the Board of Directors of the PA Public Television Network Commission, the PA Local Government Commission, the State Employees Retirement System, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, the Advisory Board of Penn State Lehigh Valley, and the Board of Directors of Lehigh Valley College.He was a Charter Member of the Advisory Committee for the National Task Force on Community Preparedness and Response, chaired by former Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore. Between his service as a member of the Senate and as Mayor of Allentown, Roy served as an independent consultant and lobbyist. Included among his principal clients were Pennsylvania’s eight public television stations and eRAD, a cutting edge digitized radiology software company. His present clients include Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA), the Pennsylvania Adult Day Services Association (PADSA), the Pennsylvania Association of Senior Centers (PASC), the Meals on Wheels Association of Pennsylvania (MOWAPA), and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Partnership for Aging (SWPPA). Roy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, in English and a Master of Arts degree, with highest honors, in Political Science at Kutztown University. His Master’s thesis, “County Home Rule – Fact or Fiction” has been utilized as a guide by both proponents and opponents of home rule charters in Pennsylvania.

Sarah Speed Gabel is an accomplished attorney specializing in legislative strategy, policy implementation, and government affairs. She served as Executive Director of the Judiciary Committee for both the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Senate, where they orchestrated significant legislative changes, including Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law and reforms in animal cruelty legislation. Gabel founded California’s first animal abuse counseling program and led efforts at the Humane Society of the United States, successfully advocating for numerous laws enhancing animal protections. Currently, as the Senior Director of Policy at The States Project, she lead initiatives to develop innovative state-level policy solutions. Gabel holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor’s degree in American Literature and Culture from UCLA.

Since 1992, Bruce Wagman has been using his legal degree to protect and save animals and assist those who care for them — forging a path for improved animal welfare and treatment that considers everyone who is potentially impacted by his work. His experience in the area of animal law is unparalleled. Bruce’s clients include numerous animal protection organizations as well as private individuals. He has worked on behalf of many species, including alpacas, bears, birds, burros, cats, chickens, chimpanzees, chinchillas, cows, deer, dogs, dolphins, ducks, elephants, elk, ferrets, geese, goats, gorillas, horses (domestic and wild), lions, mice, monkeys, pigs, rabbits, sharks, turkeys, whales, and wolves. Bruce’s forte is the kind of creative lawyering it takes to fit animal interests into the legal world, and his clients regularly applaud his ability to model creative solutions and take on the toughest problems. His practice covers a broad range of animal-related legal issues, including cases involving animal cruelty, animal rescue, wildlife, and the use of animals in entertainment, biomedical research, and animal agriculture/food production. He has a long history of success in a wide range of cases constituting “impact litigation,” but he also loves to work with individuals on cases involving dog bites, animal custody disputes, and injuries to, and caused by, animals. Bruce brings an undeniable passion for each of his cases, a dedication to both his human clients and the animals involved, and he has a proven ability to turn that passion into winning arguments both in and out of the courtroom. He takes an “eyes on the prize” approach to all of his matters. Bruce is the only lawyer running an exclusive animal law practice in a major United States firm, and he focuses on matters that benefit both society and the animals themselves. He litigates, drafts animal-friendly legislation, oversees rescue operations, and consults clients who care for and protect animals. He has published two major works, the leading casebook for law schools nationwide — “Animal Law: Cases and Materials” — and a global survey of animal laws, “A Worldview of Animal Law.” Bruce also founded Project Chimps, a chimpanzee sanctuary that is home to over 100 chimpanzees retired from a research laboratory.

Since 2022, Anne Birdsong has served as an Assistant District Attorney with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecutes cases in the Domestic Violence Unit and serves as the Animal Cruelty Prosecution Coordinator. She is the only dedicated animal cruelty prosecutor in the City of Pittsburgh. Before entering the legal profession, Ms. Birdsong spent more than a decade working at AZA accredited zoos, including serving as a Great Ape Keeper at the Dallas Zoo from 2014 to 2021. Ms. Birdsong also worked as a veterinary assistant and technician. A graduate of Texas A&M University School of Law (2022), Ms. Birdsong completed legal internships with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States). She is licensed to practice law in both Pennsylvania and Texas.

John Griffin oversees the Humane World for Animals wildlife’s department field and policy programs focused on implementing humane and effective solutions to wildlife conflicts across the country. This work includes consulting with—and providing trainings and resources for—animal care and control professionals, law enforcement, wildlife responders and state and municipal agencies. Griffin also assists with field coexistence and research programs as well as disaster response and wildlife rescue. For nine years, he ran Humane World’s Humane Wildlife Services program, which provided conflict resolution services primarily through eviction and exclusion methods. From 2015-2016, Griffin was part of a National Geographic Expedition team exploring raccoon behavior in urban areas. He lives in Frederick, Maryland, with his wife, who is also a Humane World colleague, their young daughter, a cat named Rosie and a dog named Gracie—whom he met on deployment in Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Sue retired as a PA Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator in 2013 after 21 years. In 1975, she received her BA in Biology, and in 1986 received her M.S. in Health Service Administration. Due to a life changing experience in 1986 during a trip to Africa she began working with wild animals. In 2015, she was appointed to the Pennsylvania Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Council, which she has chaired since 2017. Also in 2017, Sue saw an opportunity to further her work with PA native wild animals. She then founded Wildlife In Need Emergency Response of Pennsylvania (Wildlife In Need PA), a statewide dispatch and capture organization. Those animals that are captured by volunteers are delivered to PA Wildlife Rehabilitation facilities.

Kristen Tullo is the Pennsylvania State Director with Humane World for Animals, formerly The Humane Society of the United States. She graduated with a master’s degree in Community Psychology at Pennsylvania State University focusing her attention on animal welfare initiatives. She actively led the campaign to secure passage of House Bill 1238, incorporating Libre’s Law, and was instrumental in the formation of Pennsylvania’s bipartisan and bicameral Animal Protection Caucus.

Ms. Katz is a Partner in the Philadelphia Law Firm of Meranze, Katz & Gaudioso, P.C. She received her BA in Political Science from the George Washington University and JD from Temple University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey and is a member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations. She is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the U.S Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Ms. Katz is the President of Humane PA PAC, Pennsylvania’s Political Voice for Animals, a non-partisan committee working to end cruelty to animals in Pennsylvania through public policy. She previously served on the Board of Directors of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary and The Humane League. Ms. Katz is chair of the Animal Law Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She is also a Humane Policy Volunteer Leader with the Humane Society of the United States. She shares her home with four cats, all of whom are former ferals.