585: What It’s Like to Work in Animal Accommodation Law With Abby Volin, Opening Doors [Main T4C Episode]

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Abby Volin is the founder and president of Opening Doors PLLC, a team of animal accommodation experts who help  residential & commercial property managers, tenants & residents, universities, employers, & healthcare providers, welcome paws through their front door. They accomplish this by developing progressive and safer pet programs that create a happy and  healthier community for people and pets alike. Before founding Opening Doors in 2017, Abby worked as a policy specialist for the Humane Society of the United States, managing legislation at state and local levels. She also has legal experience from her time at Harris Beach PLLC, a large law firm based in New York City. Abby graduated cum laude from Tufts University, where she majored in econometrics, quantitative economics and community health.  She got her law degree cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. 

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE: 

• What animal accommodation law is (2:50)
• Why Abby regards animal accommodations as a civil rights issue (3:40)
• What physical conditions animal accommodations are typically associated with (8:51)
• How ‘assistance animals’ can help with conditions such as epilepsy (10:15)
• What breed specific legislation is (19:10)
• What makes Abby’s firm unique (20:25)
• What advice Abby has for those who want to work for non-profits (24:14)
• Why Abby originally didn’t want to go to law school (27:34)
• How a degree in econometrics and quantitative economics helped Abby become a lawyer (30:10)
• What you can do if you have a bad relationship with your supervisor (34:50)
• If you want to learn how to break into animal accommodation law tune in to Abby’s Espresso Shots episode #548