A resident of Connecticut, Julie Lewin began her career as a freelance writer and journalist after obtaining degrees from Barnard College and Columbia University. Always politically active, she went from writing articles about the sexual abuse of children and women's prison reforms to becoming an important advocate for the protection and treatment of animals. Beginning with the Fund for Animals from 1986 to 2000, Lewin led an expose of the Connecticut Humane Society's donation policy, revealing the world of inhumane practices in the pet industry from puppy mills to illegal pet acquisition and kennel management, and she lobbied for new laws to protect animals in research.
Since 1990, Lewin has been the Executive Director of the Connecticut Council for Human Education, an organization that both educates the public about animal rescue and rescues inner-city animals. She has also been involved in establishing new, politically-aware organizations to advance animal rights. In 2001, she founded Animal Advocacy Connecticut to lobby state officials on animal issues, and in the following year, she founded The National Institute For Animal Advocacy (NIFAA), an organization that trains activists to win strong state and local laws for animal protection through political action. Reflecting the evolution in Lewin's thought, NIFAA was established specifically to create a political culture among animal rescue and rights advocates; to train advocates how to form voting blocs for animals in their towns, cities, counties and states; and to develop local political leadership among animal advocates to lead these voting blocs.
While much of Lewin's lobbying effort has centered on issues such as hunting, the pet industry, gun control, greyhound racing, dog chaining, rodeos, circuses, marine life, pet overpopulation, and animal research, she has increasingly emerged as an important political strategist, writing about how best to work within the system to effect concrete change. Her book, Get Political For Animals and Win the Laws They Need: Why and How to Launch a Voting Bloc for Animals in Your Town, City, County or State (2007), is a how-to manual for animal rights and rescue advocates. It outlines simple steps that anyone can take to launch a voting bloc, locally or nationally, and it was sponsored or endorsed by a number animal rights organizations, including the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Welfare Trust, Animal World USA, Best Friends Animal Society, Coalition For Animals, Compassion in Entertainment, Connecticut Humane Society, Dogs Deserve Better, Farm Sanctuary, Fox Memorial Clinic, Fund for Animals, Humane Society of the US, Lapin Foundation, and the League of Humane Voters of New York City.
From the guide to the Julie Lewin Papers MS 454., 1966-2003, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries)
