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Kathy Hall has always loved horses. She began riding lessons as a girl and continued up until her freshman year of college. Hall returned to riding after earning a bachelor’s degree in history from Lewis & Clark College and rode competitively until she became a mom nearly six years ago.

When Hall decided to become an attorney after teaching social studies for several years, she knew she wanted her practice to center around horses. She returned to Lewis & Clark to earn her law degree and graduated in 2003.

Since then, Hall has dealt with a range of issues related to animal law, both in her practice and in her community service. She is on the advisory board of Oregon Horse Country, which promotes Oregon’s growing equestrian industry. She is president of the Oregon Hunter Jumper’s Association, which promotes the state’s hunter/jumper industry. And she is chairwoman of the Oregon State Bar’s Animal Law Section.

Hall shares with Briefly Legal some of the cases she’s handled and the range of issues the Bar’s Animal Law Section is exploring. Her responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Briefly Legal: What are some of the matters you deal with as a lawyer specializing in equine issues?

Kathy Hall: Because of the economy there are a lot of owners who can’t care for their horses, so I’m seeing more abuse and neglect cases now.

I’ve also seen situations where people have been swindled out of their money when buying a horse because someone, for whatever reason, is desperate to get rid of the horse and makes false claims about its condition or abilities.

Briefly Legal: What are your goals as chair of the Bar’s Animal Law Section?

Hall: Right now I’m overseeing the development of externship opportunities for law students through the section. This is already offered through Lewis & Clark Law School, and now we’re working to include Willamette and the University of Oregon as well.

We’ve also developed a website to inform lawyers and the public about what is happening in animal law, and we’re developing a professional development CLE for this fall.

Briefly Legal: What are some of the topics on the Animal Law Section’s radar right now?

Hall: A big issue is the change in law that would reinstate horse slaughter in the U.S., and not just for dog food or food for zoo animals but human consumption as well.

One end of the debate is whether this is cruel and inhumane to horses. Another aspect is whether we want horses who have competed in the past and may have been given a laundry list of (performance enhancing) drugs in the nation’s meat supply when they may not be fit for human consumption.

As a section, we feel we need to educate the public about this issue.