Animal Justice

Hosts Peter Sankoff and Camille Labchuk give you all the details on a groundbreaking new pet custody case from the Newfoundland & Labrador Court of Appeal. In Baker v Harmina, a young former couple fought over who would get custody of Mya, a Bernese mountain dog-poodle mix. Mr. Baker was awarded full custody, based on the conception that the only thing that matters is who bought Mya. But a dissenting judge disagreed, and would have given the two joint custody, stating that "ownership of a dog is more complicated to decide than, say, a car, or a piece of furniture."

Episode 4 of the Paw & Order podcast is all about getting whales and dolphins out of captivity. Hosts Peter Sankoff and Camille Labchuk do a deep dive (pun intended!) into the legal efforts to rescue these smart, sensitive animals from tiny concrete tanks. This has been a major focus for animal advocates in Canada, and real progress has been made.

This special Q&A show was recorded live from Peter's animal law class at the University of Alberta in January, during Camille's visit to Edmonton.

Peter Sankoff and Camille Labchuk dive into an important topic in animal law: Federalism. In other words, how does the division of powers between federal and provincial governments affect animals? Unlike many other countries, Canada has no national animal welfare legislation. Here's your chance to understand why that is, and why it's such a serious problem.

Welcome to the first episode of the Paw & Order podcast! Animal Justice is thrilled to be launching Paw & Order—Canada's first-ever animal law podcast. The show is hosted by our own Peter Sankoff and Camille Labchuk, two of Canada's leading animal lawyers. Our goal? To make animal law accessible to everyone—even if you don't have a legal background.