Pakistan is introducing international animal rights law into university-level education as a full academic course at Kinnaird Law School in 2026. This makes it one of the very first times such a course has been offered at this scale.
The course will be offered through Environmental and Animal Rights Consultants Pakistan, the country’s first Animal and Environmental Law firm. It is going to be a full-fledged semester course at the undergraduate level, with exams at the end that will teach students about international animal law and the gaps it needs to fill in Pakistan, with theory and practice.
This development should help embed animal rights not only in litigation and advocacy, but also in formal legal education. By taking animal rights from courtrooms to classrooms, future generations of lawyers can be trained to defend animal welfare as a matter of law and legal principle.
The development follows years of sustained legal advocacy led by Altamush Saeed, who has been reappointed as Chairman of the Animal Law Committee at the Lahore High Court Bar Association for the 2025–2026 term. The reappointment comes after his continued efforts in his role in advancing animal rights within Pakistan’s legal framework.
In 2024, Saeed established the Animal Law Committee at the Lahore High Court Bar Association, the first committee of its kind in Pakistan, which aims to bring animal rights into structured legal discussion and practice.
Since then, Saeed has worked with lawyers and stakeholders through advocacy, legal engagement, and awareness-building to address gaps in the enforcement and understanding of animal welfare laws. His efforts have focused on strengthening legal protections, improving accountability, and reframing how animals are treated under the law.
Saeed attributed the journey to perseverance, purpose, and faith, stating, “Beshak Allah blesses those He chooses with His work. Alhamdulillah.”
There is no need to introduce a course for it. It should be a basic human instinct taught by the mothers in the cradle, teachers in the nurseries and scools and Mullas in the mosques. Introducing it in universaties looks absurd.