Laura Hagen serves as counsel, captive animal law enforcement for the PETA Foundation where she provides legal advice and assistance on a wide range of issues that arise from PETA’s work on behalf of captive wildlife, including investigations, regulatory efforts, policy work, work with law enforcement, and assistance with litigation matters. Laura was formerly the deputy director of advocacy for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) where she managed advocacy campaigns, largely focusing on legislative and regulatory initiatives impacting wildlife. This included efforts to curtail wildlife trade (trafficking in ivory, rhino horn, and shark fins); to protect captive wildlife; and to defend against efforts to expand trapping and hunting domestic wild animals. Laura’s portfolio also included policy initiatives to end intensive animal confinement practices, including a successful ballot question prohibiting intensive confinement of certain farmed animals and a first-in-the-nation municipal ban on the retail sale of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians in pet stores.
Laura received her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon with certificates in Animal Law and Environmental Law. While in law school, Laura clerked for the Oregon Department of Justice and for Earthrise Law Center, where she worked on Endangered Species Act litigation. She also served as the managing editor for Animal Law Review.