While other kids were being read fairy tales at bedtime, Victoria Shroff’s parents read Donoghue v. Stevenson to her. Growing up as the child (and grandchild) of lawyers, surrounded by big beautiful animals near the African Serengeti, Victoria always loved animals and knew that she would become a lawyer. But as a small child, she could not have anticipated how her two loves would combine to create the centre of her career.
Victoria operates Shroff Animal Law in downtown Vancouver, BC and is well known as one of Canada’s first and longest serving animal lawyers and educators in the country. Prior to starting her practice in the year 2000, Victoria was fortunate to connect with Kristin Tillquist who was a pioneer of animal law in Canada. Kristin had built up a practice in BC and planned to move to the U.S. In 2000, Kristin asked Victoria to take over her practice (only three years after Victoria’s bar call) and Victoria happily did so. The year 2000 felt like a big deal to many people and for Victoria, it came with a feeling of “if you’re going to do it, do it now.” So, she took over the practice and has been running with it for more than two decades. She has won awards for her animal law work, been nominated for the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, finalist for the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada several times.
No two days are the same for Victoria and no two animal law cases are the same, either. Each animal and each human she works with has a story to tell. She loves being able to represent both kinds of clients. The kinds of cases Victoria takes on vary wildly, which keeps things challenging and interesting. She could be dealing with a dog on death row in the morning and a case of horse defamation or a racoon case in the afternoon.
Victoria’s days can be long, but when you love what you do, the long hours often don’t feel like work. She’s found herself in court thinking “pinch me! I can’t believe how lucky I am to be here” on more than one occasion and feels truly privileged to be able to fight for her animal and human clients. She’s also glad to be able to fit appointments and work in around quality time spent with her parents and teenager.
On top of running a busy practice, Victoria also dedicates a lot of her time to education. She teaches animal law at UBC Law and Capilano University and loves the opportunities that teaching gives her to not only give back to the community, but to learn from her students. Every year, someone will ask a question that has never been asked before or write a paper on a subject that has not been touched. Seeing this interest in her students helps drive Victoria’s passion for what she does. Victoria also founded and runs a program called Paws of Empathy. Through the program, Victoria visits K-12 schools with a dog (or two) and together they teach children and young adults about the importance of empathy and animal law. Victoria also regularly writes about animal law for lawyers magazines and mainstream publications.
Victoria recognizes the importance of access to justice as the backbone of our justice system. Very recently, with the support of the Law Students Legal Assistance Program (LSLAP) at UBC, she helped establish Canada’s first ever Animal Law Pro Bono Clinic. The ALPC clinic is still in its early days but is going well so far. Victoria is happy to see her students get the opportunity to further their interests in animal law while supporting the community in a way that was not previously available. To add to her law practice, teaching, Paws program and clinic work, Victoria also speaks at seminars and conferences globally.
Animal law is a serious area of law and can be a difficult and emotionally taxing business, but Victoria (a self-proclaimed animal pun lover) finds fun in what she does. Victoria collaborates with other lawyers (pawleagues) and academics having started the Canadian Animal Law Study Group which has about 20 members coast to coast. She also collaborates with groups internationally like The Oval Pawffice (a Major and Champ Biden fan page), which promotes the #AdoptDontShop campaign on Twitter and other media. The Pawffice has even appointed her cat Ariel as the Canada-U.S. animal law catbassador, a title Ariel is proud to hold.
Do you share a love of animals with Victoria and want to start practicing animal law? Victoria suggests getting your feet wet with pro bono files. There is a lot of work available and a lot of people who can’t afford legal help. Victoria highlights the importance of finding an animal law mentor and not just any mentor, but the right one for you. You can also read a few of Victoria’s favourite books as a starting point: anything by Jane Goodall, Beatrix Potter or Maneesha Deckha.
Animals matter and emotions in animal law cases run very high but it’s important to keep in mind that the job of an animal law lawyer is an officer of the court. When Victoria gets to be a part of saving a dog’s life, settling a ‘pet custody’ case, or stopping a condo from evicting a furry family member, her day is made. It’s pawsitively uplifting.
To keep up to date with Victoria and all of her projects, you can find her on Twitter under the handle @shroffanimallaw.
To keep up to date with Victoria and all of her projects, you can find her on Twitter under the handle @shroffanimallaw.