Wednesday, March 22, 2000

By Natalie Jarman, PR Intern

Wilmington, N.C. - Animal rights leader, author, and teacher, Dr. Steven Wise, will speak at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 29, in UNCW's Morton Hall Bryan Auditorium. Wise will discuss his work regarding the legal rights of animals. He will also sign copies of his book, Rattling the Cage, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30, at Barnes and Noble, after speaking to UNCW's Animals in Society class, taught by Dr. Robert Weedon, earlier that day.

Wise is a graduate of the Boston University School of Law and the College of William and Mary. He currently teaches animal rights at the Harvard, University of Vermont, and John Marshall law schools and in the Animals and Public Policy graduate program at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. During the past 20 years, he has undertaken tasks such as saving the lives of more than 100 dogs that were ordered to death as vicious, suing for veterinary malpractice, and defending the rights of condominium and cooperative home owners to have companion animals. He and his wife Debra Slater-Wise founded the Center for the Expansion of Fundamental Rights, Inc. in 1995.

"Dr. Wise's visit is important to the university because it enables students to experience a world-class speaker while learning more about the issues surrounding animal rights," said Weedon.

Wise's visit is sponsored by Perseus Books, UNCW's Department of Philosophy and Religion, UNCW's Honors Scholars Program, College Road Animal Hospital, and the law firm of Nunalee & Nunalee. For more information, contact Dr. Weedon at 443-3458.