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ARTS & CULTURE
KANSAN.COM
11
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Alumna fights for pets' rights with law practice
Caitlynn Salazar/KANSAN Katie Barnett, long-time animal lover and lawyer, works with Doris at the Lawrence Humane Society. Barnett's work includes drafting legislation that impacts the humane treatment of animals.
▶ COURTNEY BIERMAN
@courtbierman
Caitlynn Salazar/KANSAN humane treatment of animals
Then-Shawnee resident Katie Barnett was at home when the police knocked on her door. They asked to see her dog. She was scared, but she was also pretty sure she hadn't broken the law.
"They were like 'We hear you have a pit bull.' And I was like 'I don't think so,' Barnett said. "Come on in. Check out my dog. It's only 30 pounds. There's no way!"
Shawnee had a pit bull ban at the time. Although Barnett isn't sure to this day that the dog was a pit bull, she ultimately had to move to avoid giving up ownership of her pet.
Barnett now runs an animal law practice out of her home outside of Lawrence. A lifelong animal lover, Barnett represents municipalities in the Kansas City metro area in cases of animal cruelty. She also drafts animal-related legislation and does contracted lobbying for institutions such as the Lawrence Humane Society.
The incident involving the police inspired Barnett to go to law school. She didn't think Shawnee's breed ban was worth a court battle at the time, but she still recognized the injustice of the situation. She didn't want to be so powerless in the future, she said.
The decision wasn't totally unexpected. She graduated from Missouri State University in 2002, and had been working for an intellectual property law firm in Shawnee as a paralegal. She went back to school and graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2011.
Barnett and her husband, who own the Home Sweet Home Dog Resort in town, live in the country with their
new baby and five dogs down from the eight they had when they got married.
"We're like a Brady Bunch," Barnett said.
Since graduating, Barnett has used her practice to do away with breed bans in the area, protect victims of animal abuse from returning to their convicted owners encourage more training for animal control officers and generally improve the welfare of pets in northeast Kansas, according to Lawrence Humane Society Executive Director Kate Meghji.
Meghji said Barnett is a huge asset to the Humane Society and similar organizations in the area. In addition to assisting with the shelter's various animal cruelty and neglect cases, Barnett wrote a law that requires that municipal
shelters be reimbursed by the county for the costs of pets they care for during pending animal abuse trials.
Katie is really a tireless advocate for improving the laws."
Kate Meghji Lawrence Humane Society executive director
"Katie is really a tireless advocate for improving the laws, and I think that without her it would be much harder to make the progress that's already been made," Meghji said.
Retired law professor William Westerbeke, who taught Barnett during her time at the University, said animal law is something of a novelty interest among
law students. Although it's possible to start a specialty practice, few people are able to carve a niche for themselves as Barnett has.
"I'm sure if Lawrence tried to enact an ordinance ban on pit bulls, Katie'd be charging to the forefront on that," Westerbeke said.
One of the biggest threats to animal welfare in Kansas City is the cycle of poverty, Barnett said. There's a positive correlation between low-income communities and instances of animal abuse and neglect.
Community policing, a system in which police try to address the problems that cause crime rather than just react to the crimes themselves, can improve the conditions of animals in the area, she said. For example, if a dog in Kansas City is not
SCI-FI FROM PAGE 9
began casually discussing an award that would approach gender and sexuality in a different way. They wondered how "irritated" people would be if the award's panel consisted of four women and one man, as opposed to the typical male-dominated boards.
That idea became a reality, Fowler said, and they named the award for Alice B. Sheldon, who had re-
Harvey said having a touching story that looks into gender is exactly why she loves Fowler's stories.
Rachel Harvey, a University student and science fiction fan who attended the lecture, said science fiction is the genre best suited to explore the roles of gender and sexuality in our lives.
gender," Fowler said. "I would rather have them choose a story that really touches them."
"It's not really bound by the laws of nature," she said. "So [the writing] can explore what it would be like if there were lots of socially-accepted genders, or what it would be like if society expected everyone to
"Women aren't just add-ons in her books," she said. "They're actually people."
choose their own gender."
cently passed.
spayed or neutered, their owner could be faced with a fine. Barnett has been encouraging area police to provide a notice with a list of affordable options to get the pet fixed.
The award is meant to leave the door open for discussion. Fowler said the line between being a "feminist" and "un-feminist" is thinner than she expected, a reality that the Tiptree award hopes to highlight. This has led to some controversial winners in the past, but Fowler and Murphy always encourage the board to choose a book they truly enjoy.
"Any book is about
"They really kind of go that extra step and say, 'How can we hook you up to get you compliant?' Instead of 'Here's a citation. Hey, you're fined,'" Barnett said.
"I feel like I'm making a difference in my community, and making a difference in the life of people, and giving those animals a voice that they may not otherwise have," she said.
money if she'd stayed in intellectual property law or gone to work for a firm,but she said that wouldn't have made her feel good at the end of the day. She loves animals, and that makes everything worth it.
Barnett admits that she could be making more
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