When Kelly was a child, her mother read her storybooks that often started with, ‘Once upon a time,’ and ended with, ‘happily ever after.’ These books were her first interaction with fantastical creatures that would sing and dance and went on adventures such as Mr. Popper’s Penguins or Curious George. Zoos, aquariums, and circuses were magical, mystical places where these creatures lived ‘happily ever after’ entertaining children like Kelly. When she did attend these places outside of storybooks, her face would be plastered to the clear retaining walls of exhibits intensely searching for any sign of movement and exclaiming out of exasperation, “MOVE!” as if she were Dudley from Harry Potter and, “They’re boring!” like the animal was supposed to provide her with some sort of entertainment. ‘Once upon a time’ did not look the same in reality.
In law school, kismet put Kelly in Professor Francesca Ortiz’s Property I class. On the very first day, she asked the class, “Who are my storytellers?” While she just wanted someone to recite Pierson v. Post, the question struck a chord with Kelly. Finally connecting the dots between storybooks and reality. The cases people have been studying are all stories. Real, factual events but told through a lens that fit the narrative being perpetuated. And Kelly had not only the ability to recount these stories, but to create them.
This was also the day Kelly learned that her beloved creatures were considered property under the law. No more than a chair or a lamp. Sowing the seeds of deeply rooted discord.
After law school, Kelly joined the Board of Directors for the Texas Humane Legislative Network where she’s been fortunate enough to walk alongside giants in Animal Law. She has seen these giants wield trees as clubs and boulders as projectiles against the seemingly undefeatable Texas legislature. And Kelly has seen them emerge bloody and bruised but victorious. Kelly no longer wishes to merely walk alongside giants admiring their extraordinary feats. She wants to become one.
“When we are children, we are told the stories. When we are adults, we tell the stories. We become the stories.”
The Animal Law program at Lewis & Clark Law School has a reputation that is the very stuff myths and legends are made of. It is an honor to be a part of such a program and continue its legacy.