• Share to Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email
    • Print

Sherry Ramsey

Director of animal cruelty prosecutions

Sherry Ramsey, Esq., is The HSUS' director of animal cruelty prosecutions. She spent three years as an animal law attorney in The HSUS' Animal Protection Litigation department before she began focusing exclusively on animal cruelty prosecutions in 2009.

A former assistant district attorney and a current adjunct professor of animal law at New York Law School, Ramsey specializes in helping prosecutors build effective animal cruelty cases. Her prosecutor and judicial training seminars provide lawyers with tools to investigate, charge, and prosecute animal cruelty cases.

In early 2009, Ramsey expanded her legal training seminars to include Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) attorneys and prosecutors on military bases. The seminars launched at Fort Bliss, which is the nation's second-largest military installation. As a result of attention to this area, the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice proposed including a paragraph on animal cruelty and abandonment in the Uniform Code of Military Justice to provide stronger penalties and more consistent enforcement of animal cruelty within the military.

As a licensed attorney in New York and New Jersey, Ramsey runs an online group for prosecutors and attorneys general to exchange ideas and information on animal cruelty cases. 

Ramsey co-authored an article in "Juvenile and Family Justice Today" called "Protecting Domestic Violence Victims by Protecting Their Pets." Ramsey has also published two articles on prosecuting animal cruelty cases for the quarterly newsletter of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

In 2010, Ramsey conducted seminars or spoke on animal cruelty issues (including domestic violence and juvenile crime) at:

  • the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges meeting in Las Vegas;
  • the District Attorney's office Rockland County, N.Y.;
  • the New Jersey State Bar Association;
  • the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Virginia;
  • the National Association of Prosecuting Attorneys conference; and
  • the Oregon Department of Justice. 

In 2011, Ramsey conducted judicial trainings at:

  • the Criminal Justice Institute in St. Paul
  • the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges annual conference in New York City; 
  • the New Jersey State Bar Association's annual meeting;
  • the Maryland Bar Associationi conference in Baltimore; and
  • the "Investigating and Prosecuting Animal Cruelty Cases" conference for prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and animal control officers in Florida

Contact Sherry Ramsey via email here.