On this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, I speak with Cristina Stella, a managing attorney at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, about ALDF v Foster Poultry Farms, currently pending in Superior Court in Merced County, California. This fascinating case is rooted in a provision of the California state constitution governing water use. I have to say even I was shocked to find out the amount of water they use to slaughter chickens, particularly given the wasteful and hideous cruel methods used. It was also shocking to find out how, in these dire times of extreme drought, poor communities in California’s Central Valley are suffering in spite of state constitutional provisions designed to protect access to water.
As a managing attorney at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Cristina Stella litigates on behalf of farmed, wild, and captive animals who are subjected to systemic cruelty and exploitation in commercial industries. Her cases primarily focus on increasing transparency in the industrial agriculture system and challenging industrial agricultural practices that harm animals, the environment, and public health. Cristina also teaches animal law as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law and is the co-author of the investigative report, America’s Secret Animal Drug Problem: How Lack of Transparency is Endangering Human Health and Animal Welfare.
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