Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, seems to believe that animals are people, too. On his watch, an unprecedented Animal Law Unit appears to serve the interests of radical animal rights groups, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the US (“the Humane Society”).
Last week, Miyares kicked off the 13th annual National Animal Cruelty Prosecution Conference in Richmond, Virginia. The conference agenda included seminars on how to achieve convictions for cases of animal abuse and neglect. The conference was sponsored by an organization called the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) which frequently partners with PETA on undercover investigations and has funded Virginia’s Animal Law Unit—a peculiar arrangement.
But critics of Animal Law Unit investigation allege that the unit has also become a tool for harassment, animal relocation profiteering, and ideological pursuits that place personal gain and radical activism above the rights of law-abiding citizens.
“When Jason Miyares became the Attorney General many hoped he would eradicate the [Animal Law Unit],” according to the Virginia Animal Owners Alliance, a pro-animal ownership group. “To the contrary, Jason doubled down. He kept Michelle and her team and has enjoyed plenty of notoriety as a result. However, the tables are starting to turn. It is becoming more and more obvious that the Animal Law Unit is driven by an extremist ideology and is severely lacking in practical experience.”
Animal Law Unit lead prosecutor Karen “Michelle” Welch, and her deputy prosecutor, Amy Taylor, along with their associates are pioneering a new “conflict industry” through which affiliated non-profit organizations generate revenue from what appear to be manufactured controversies.
Everyone can agree that animals should not be abused or neglected. Groups like PETA, the Humane Society, and the ALDF exploit that compassion and redirect it toward an agenda in which consuming meats, animal byproducts such as leather and fur, and even owning pets could warrant jail time. And these groups benefit immensely from blurring the lines between animal welfare, which everyone supports, and animal rights, which most people don’t realize is a loaded term that places the freedom to own pets at the mercy of radical animal rights activists.
Michelle Welch (left) with her arm around PETA Foundation’s Laura Hagen
The Virginia Animal Law Unit and the Animal Rights Conflict Industry
The term “conflict industry” was popularized by Pulitzer Prize – winning journalist Tom Knudson in a series of Sacramento Bee articles about how conservationist organizations, which he dubbed “Environment Inc,” create public spectacles to raise funds. Lawfare leads to additional profits in the form of “collecting large sums of money in attorney’s fees and court costs.”
More recent investigations have revealed how, like some environmental groups, animal rights organizations such as PETA and the Humane Society generate substantial revenue by creating controversies around private animal ownership. Generating public outrage has long been the business model for such organizations. Now, Virginia’s Animal Law Unit helps them under the force of law.
PETA has worked to establish animal lawfare precedents for more than two decades. “We’re looking for good lawsuits that will establish the interests of animals as a legitimate area of concern in law,” PETA founder and president Ingrid Newkirk said in 2000. “Probably everything we do is a publicity stunt,” she told USA Today. “We are not here to gather members, to please, to placate, to make friends,” she continued, “we’re here to hold the radical line.” Newkirk candidly told The New Yorker, “we are complete press sluts.”
Like PETA, the Humane Society dominates the animal rights conflict industry and has nearly $500 million in assets. Each year, the Humane Society rakes in more than $100 million—more than $1.5 billion total since 2013—partly by exploiting controversy and soliciting donations. Its executives received more than $3.8 million in compensation and other employees received more than $46 million—a combined $50 million—in 2023 alone.
Most Americans believe that the Humane Society is a local pet shelter umbrella organization and that donations are spent caring for animals at local pet rescues. But some maintain that the Humane Society “actively perpetuates this name confusion“ and there is “no affiliation“ with local shelters. “Please do not give to the Humane Society if you care about pets,” wrote Douglas Anthony Cooper, a former contributing editor at New York Magazine. “It doesn’t run any shelters. It has no veterinary clinics. A good deal of their funding comes from people who don’t have the slightest idea of their real agenda.” Cooper also called PETA a “death cult.”
And most people don’t know that Humane Society personnel can be just as radical as PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk. For example, the Humane Society’s grassroots organizer John “JP” Goodwin, is a former publicist for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a group known for extreme measures. According to the FBI, ALF is a domestic terror organization and its operatives have committed a staggering number of criminal acts, predominantly arson and vandalism.
Caption: John Goodwin (left) pictured with former Virginia AG Mark Herring. (source: https://www.newterritorymedia.com)
While working for ALF, Goodwin was “ecstatic“ after ALF operatives set fire to a Utah fur breeder cooperative. Now at the Humane Society, Goodwin spearheads animal rights campaigns while his employer conducts investigations that lead to Animal Law Unit prosecutions. Goodwin has had ties to the AG’s unit dating back to when former state Attorney General Mark Herring established the Animal Law Unit and placed Michelle Welch in charge of it. Local reports indicate that Herring received high praise and multiple awards from the Humane Society.
Targeting Small Businesses: The Impact on Virginia Citizens
One of the more troubling aspects of the Animal Law Unit operation is its apparent focus on small businesses and private animal owners. These targets often lack the resources to defend themselves against the prosecution unit and its well-funded private partners. Welch’s team has targeted family farms and zoos, small animal shelters, and local pet stores under claims of abuse or neglect. But these charges of abuse have been overturned on multiple occasions.
For example, freelance investigative journalist Carlotta Cooper reported that the Animal Law Unit displayed a pattern of abusive behavior when Steve Ritter, a 71-year-old man from Winchester, was raided by a team of agents in “ninja-style garb.” Agents forced him to wait outside in sub-freezing temperatures as they proceeded to seize his brown egg-laying hens. He was accused of running a cockfighting ring and charged with animal cruelty by the Animal Law Unit.
The only problem is Ritter was acquitted of the ten felony counts for animal fighting and the eight counts of cruelty. He was, however, given probation for two misdemeanor counts. Still, Ritter’s property was seized and his electronic devices still had not been returned to him, even after he was acquitted.
In another case, the Natural Bridge Zoo faced targeted harassment from PETA and the Humane Society, whose undercover operatives infiltrated the facility and obtained video footage, generating reports that created a public spectacle.
Welch’s team then obtained a search warrant which the zoo’s defenders’ argued was “constitutionally defective” due to “material omissions… from the warrant regarding… the credibility and reliability of the confidential informant,” who “harbored serious bias and was paid by an animal activist organization.”
The Animal Law Unit took legal action and, last December, a judge ordered the seizure of 100 valuable exotic animals, including giraffes and primates. In March, a jury upheld the seizures for 71 of the animals (which were later “rehomed” to activist-approved sanctuaries) but returned 29 animals to the Natural Bridge Zoo.
Animal Law Unit critics say the strategy is simple yet effective: exaggerate instances of alleged animal mistreatment out of proportion, seize the animals, and drive up legal costs for the owners—all while animal rights organizations aligned with the Humane Society and PETA use publicity surrounding the incident to “take action,” which means solicit more donations from the public.
On top of the fundraising benefits, seized animals generate new profits for the new owners who support like-minded organizations. Exotic animals are extremely valuable. The value of one adult giraffe, for example, can run into the six figures.
Multiple giraffes were seized, including Jeffrey (a favorite of visitors) last month, from the Natural Bridge Zoo. These giraffes were sent to the newly constructed Georgia Safari Conservation Park which plans to offer overnight safaris and “glamping experiences.” The Natural Bridge Zoo’s Capuchin monkeys were sent to a PETA affiliate in Texas which likewise plans to generate revenue from the animals.
The financial burdens imposed on these small businesses, from legal fees to “costs of care” for seized animals, often amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, financially burdening individuals who cannot compete with the resources of the state-backed unit.
And when the Animal Law Unit seizes animals, not only do Welch’s and Taylor’s friends and allies benefit but the seizure itself may cause pain and suffering for the animals. The Natural Bridge Zoo owner posted a video of Jeffrey the giraffe in distress as a heavy gate was slammed on his neck while he was being corralled for removal. Part of his hoof was ripped off during the relocation efforts according to the owners of Natural Bridge Zoo.
A chunk of Jeffrey the giraffe’s hoof was ripped off during the seizure and relocation effort
As noted above, not all targets of Animal Law Unit prosecution are innocent. But that does not mean the Animal Law Unit is serving impartial justice. Consider the case of celebrity animal trainer and zookeeper Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who was charged by Welch in 2020 for wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty. Antle was found guilty of four felony counts of wildlife trafficking in 2023, but the jury also found Antle not guilty on charges of animal cruelty and the investigators were reprimanded, including an animal control warden who had ties to PETA and was later found guilty of embezzlement.
The Animal Law Unit’s Amy Taylor Ties to Non-Profits
Amy Taylor holds significant influence within the Animal Law Unit’s operations. Taylor helps enact the Animal Law Unit agenda and she aligns herself with the mission of animal rights groups. Taylor’s private animal rights ventures also raise questions about how Animal Law Unit prosecutions may benefit private interests.
For example, Taylor has been an investigator for a private organization called the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force (VAFTF) since 2007, joining its board in 2013, according to her bio. She is listed as the only executive (treasurer) of the VAFTF, according to the organization’s latest IRS filing (2023). Her boss at the Animal Law Unit, Michelle Welch, served as president of the VAFTF according to 2016 filings. In 2024, Welch and Taylor each gave presentations at an event sponsored in part by the Humane Society and featuring presentations by VAFTF.
Taylor runs a pit bull rescue called Ring Dog Rescue. In 2019, the organization raised more than $500,000. Taylor started working with Welch during Miyares’s tenure in January 2020 and won an award from the Humane Society the following year. Donations to Ring Dog Rescue exploded and Taylor’s local dog rescue pulled in more than $1 million, according to IRS filings.
Ring Dog Rescue donations doubled after Amy Taylor joined the Animal Law Unit
Jason Miyares Praises the Animal Law Unit
Republican attorney general Miyares campaigned on a platform of restoring conservative values and promoting limited government, but he has failed to put a stop to the overreach of his prosecutors, Welch and Taylor. In fact, Miyares has praised the work of the Animal Law Unit.
“I like to say that my role as attorney general is that… we’re the people’s protector,” Miyares said adding that he considers Virginia’s animals very much part of “the people.”
Miyares’s explicit approval gives Welch and Taylor authority to continue their practices. There is no evidence that Miyares is complicit in the coordination with animal rights groups, but his failure to address mounting complaints about the Animal Law Unit raises questions about his commitment to even-handed governance.
Broader Implications: Oversight and Reform Needed Now
The activities of Welch, Taylor, and the Virginia Animal Law Unit are emblematic of a larger problem posed by the animal rights conflict industry. By aligning with groups like the Humane Society and PETA, the Animal Law Unit has adopted the animal lawfare tactics that prioritize conflict, rather than resolving them for citizens and their pets.
This issue calls for oversight and investigation. Taxpayer-funded offices such as the Animal Law Unit should not operate as an extension of activist agendas or profit-driven enterprises masquerading as non-profits.
And these lawfare tactics targeting private pet owners are not going away. In fact, they are getting more aggressive. Last month, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation raided a private residence and seized two pets—a squirrel and a raccoon—after anonymous complaints alleged that the animals were owned illegally.
Did the New York officials release P’Nut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon into the wild? No, they euthanized them. As PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk has emphasized repeatedly, killing is kindness—a “gift.” PETA is infamous for its view that animals are “better off dead“ than in captivity.
Virginia has a chance to lead by example, thwart radical animal rights activists, and shut down the Animal Law Unit. If Miyares, who just announced his re-election bid this week, continues to allow the harassment of private pet owners, it will undermine his stated commitment to limited government and the fair application of the law. Without swift intervention, the Virginia Attorney General’s office risks further complicity in a radical left-wing racket.
