GAINed Experience in Guam: Addressing Animal Welfare Through Legislative and Shelter Work

M.S. in Animals and Public Policy Externship Experience (MAPP)

May-August 2019
GAINed Experience in Guam: Addressing Animal Welfare Through Legislative and Shelter Work
Esther Lam

This summer I went home to work with Guam Animals In Need (GAIN) as a policy analyst intern with Senator Sabina Perez and as a volunteer with the animal shelter. My work with the senator involved researching and gathering state and federal laws and regulations as I drafted bills, preparing press releases and informational sheets, attending meetings and public hearings, lobbying on behalf of animal welfare, and communicating with stakeholders and constituents. As a shelter volunteer, I worked as a veterinary technician and also spent time discussing with staff on ways to continue improving upon the welfare of the shelter animals. The MAPP program has helped prepare me with efficient research and effective communication skills I needed during my externship to promote policy change. This externship gave me an opportunity to further my understanding of the policy process and hands-on experience as an animal advocate, preparing me for future work in animal policy.

See the news article in the Pacific Daily News that was largely based off of a press release I worked on: “Senators seek to update Guam’s animal cruelty laws”

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lam-esther-The-day-when-I-went-circulating-for-signatures-from-cosponsoring-senators-in-preparation-for-introduction-of-the-bill-1140x570

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Esther Lam, MAPP class 2018-2019 externship in Guam: The hardest working employee in the office Happy my foster puppy. As employees in the senators office we often brought our pets to work.

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