Animal cruelty is often linked to underlying mental health issues or illnesses, trauma, addictions, or other treatable conditions. Forensic presentence evaluations examine all of the factors surrounding an animal cruelty crime, and provide valuable information to the sentencing court in order to craft tailored sentences and reduce rates of recidivism.
Presenters
As a staff attorney with the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Criminal Justice Program, Kathleen Wood assists prosecutors, law enforcement, and legislators throughout the country to enforce and strengthen animal protection laws. In this role, Kathleen oversees the annual Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report which compares the various strengths and weaknesses of each state’s animal cruelty laws. Kathleen has also been instrumental in the creation of ALDF’s state-specific Farmed Animal Cruelty Prosecution Guides, and represents ALDF on the steering committee for the National Link Coalition. Kathleen lives in West Linn, Oregon with her partner and two cats, Penny and Robin.
Katherine Youssouf is a staff attorney with the Criminal Justice Program at Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF). Prior to joining ALDF she clerked for the Honorable Kathleen Y. Mackay at the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands District for St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She earned her J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. Before becoming a lawyer, Katherine worked as a social worker addressing violence against women and violations of human rights. She also worked in private practice as a clinical neurotherapist for adult, teenage, and child victims of trauma. She has a master’s in social work and social policy (M.S.W.) from the University of Chicago in Chicago, I.L., and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, O.H.
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