Here kitty, kitty - law students support animal rights

Reporter Rebecca Berfanger wrote this blog post.

To encourage interest for a newly formed Student Animal Legal Defense Fund organization at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, the group’s leadership hosted a different kind of field trip for members, other law students, and their guests.

A group that included about a dozen law students and guests attended the annual pumpkin party at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point on Nov. 6. During the visit, participants watched some of the more than 225 exotic cats - including lions, tigers, cougars, bobcats, and leopards - as they played with pumpkins.

It was like house cats playing with balls, but on a much grander scale.

This event is one of the first the SALDF planned. Students at the school, including Chris Pierce, started the organization this year, and attending the pumpkin party may become a tradition for the group.

 The Exotic Feline Rescue Center does not breed animals. In fact, it has taken in a number of ill and unwanted large cats from various situations, including (illegal) breeders, owners who received the animals as gifts but couldn’t take care of them, and owners and sellers who neglected and abused them. In some cases, the animals’ owners died and had not made arrangements for the care of these animals.

Many of the animals came to the center needing medical attention, which they have received. Before the center rescued them, some of the animals were malnourished, blind, declawed, or had dental problems. The center has been able to help most of them with better nutrition, dental care, and even cataract surgeries for a few.

“We decided to do this event for several reasons,” Pierce wrote via e-mail. “First, the event brings awareness to the important cause that the Exotic Feline Rescue Center is promoting as well as the Exotic Feline Rescue Center itself – a hidden gem in our community. Second, we wanted to do something non-traditional that may interest a broad cross section of the law school. Finally, as a new organization, we wanted to have a unique event that would promote the existence of our organization to the student body.”

An article about the SALDF in Bloomington, as well as chapters at other Indiana law schools, will be in the Nov. 24 edition of Indiana Lawyer.