Dr Deborah Rook

Associate Professor

School: Northumbria School of Law

Debbie obtained an LLB (Hons) First class from Exeter University and an LLM (by research) from Bristol University. She undertook her training contract with Freshfields (now Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP) at their offices in Fleet Street, London. She qualified as a solicitor in 1996 and worked in their commercial property department. In 1997 She joined Northumbria Law School as a Senior Lecturer in law specialising in property law and she continues to teach land law on the undergraduate programmes. In 2004 she created a new module in Animal Law on the MLaw Exempting and LLB(Hons) programmes and since then has been involved in research, training and conferences in the emerging area of animal protection law. In 2002 she became a Principal Lecturer and is now the Director of Student Experience and Support for the Faculty of Business and Law.

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Animal Law: Challenges and Themes, Rook, D., Dunn, R., Brooman, S., Legge, D. 30 Apr 2025
Companion animals, Rook, D., Dunn, R., Brooman, S., Legge, D. 30 Apr 2025, Animal Law, Great Easton, 5m Books
‘No Pet’ Covenants and the Law: A Harm Assessment Approach to Regulating Companion Animals in Rental Housing Across the World, Rook, D., Jegatheesan, B. 1 Dec 2024, In: Liverpool Law Review
Pets and Housing: A One Health One Welfare Issue, Jegatheesan, B., Ormerod, E., Graham, T., Stone, W., Power, E., Rook, D., McCune, S. 26 Sep 2023, The Routledge International Handbook of Human-Animal Interactions and Anthrozoology, New York, US, Routledge
Teaching Animal Law in UK universities: the benefits, challenges and opportunities for growth, Dunn, R., Rook, D., Sparks, P., Mitchell, T. 2 Jan 2023, In: Law Teacher
Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs, Howell, T., Nieforth, L., Thomas-Pino, C., Samet, L., Agbonika, S., Cuevas-Pavincich, F., Fry, N., Hill, K., Jegatheesan, B., Kakinuma, M., MacNamara, M., Mattila-Rautiainen, S., Perry, A., Tardif-Williams, C., Walsh, E., Winkle, M., Yamamoto, M., Yerbury, R., Rawat, V., Alm, K., Avci, A., Bailey, T., Baker, H., Benton, P., Binney, C., Boyle, S., Brandes, H., Carr, A., Coombe, W., Coulter, K., Darby, A., Davies, L., Delisle, E., Enders-Slegers, M., Fournier, A., Fox, M., Gee, N., Graham, T., Hamilton-Bruce, A., Hansen, T., Hart, L., Heirs, M., Hooper, J., Howe, R., Johnson, E., Jones, M., Karagiannis, C., Kieson, E., Kim, S., Kivlen, C., Lanning, B., Lewis, H., Linder, D., Mai, D., Mariti, C., Mead, R., Ferreira, G., Ngai, D., O’Keeffe, S., O’Connor, G., Olsen, C., Ormerod, E., Power, E., Pritchard, P., Rodriguez, K., Rook, D., Ruby, M., Schofield, L., Signal, T., Steel, J., Stone, W., Symonds, M., Rooy, D., Warda, T., Wilson, M., Young, J., Bennett, P. 4 Aug 2022, In: Animals
The welfare of wildlife: an interdisciplinary analysis of harm in the legal and illegal wildlife trades and possible ways forward, Wyatt, T., Maher, J., Allen, D., Clarke, N., Rook, D. 1 Jan 2022, In: Crime, Law and Social Change
For the Love of Darcie: recognising the human-companion animal relationship in housing law and policy, Rook, D. Jul 2018, In: Liverpool Law Review
Challenges to the legal status of domestic and captive animals, Rook, D. Jun 2016, Practical Veterinary Forensics, Wallingford, CABI
Who Gets Charlie? The Emergence of Pet Custody Disputes in Family Law: Adapting Theoretical Tools from Child Law, Rook, D. 1 Aug 2014, In: International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family