When Anna Frostic, ‘06, came to McGeorge School of Law, she traded researching in laboratory settings for practicing law. With a background in physical and biological anthropology, Frostic has always been passionate about protecting animals, especially through wildlife conservation. Now, she helps countless animals through her career in animal protection litigation. 

For 13 years, Frostic has worked at the Humane Society, which is a nonprofit that promotes ending animal cruelty in the United States and internationally. Initially, Frostic worked as an attorney, eventually the senior attorney, in Wildlife and Research at the Humane Society of the United States. 

In this position, Frostic was involved in litigation at the state and federal levels. She petitioned administrative agencies for regulatory and policy changes. She also worked to draft and review new legislation and helped to defend this legislation when it was challenged in lawsuits. 

Currently, Frostic is the Senior Vice President of Programs and Policy for the Humane Society International, overseeing all of Asian global programs and policy work. She engages directly with staff internationally to promote animal protection through legislative policy campaigns, corporate outreach, and direct care of animals. 

Frostic has many professional accomplishments, but one of the successes she is most proud of early in her career is eliminating a loophole in the federal law that allowed chimpanzees to continue to be subjected to invasive biomedical research. In fact, because of her work, the United States has not engaged in basic biomedical research on chimpanzees since 2015. 

Frostic has also been involved in working to end trophy hunting. In the United States, Frostic filed multiple lawsuits to prohibit the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from issuing permits to allow trophy imports of African lions. Frostic has worked in this issue at the international level as well, pressuring the South African government to prohibit the entire industry of captive breeding of lions. Through her and the Human Society’s efforts, the South African government recently issued a policy document paving the way for phasing out that industry. 

Throughout 2024, the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law will celebrate members of its vast alumni network in honor of the school’s 100-year anniversary. This post is part of a series highlighting 100 exceptional McGeorge School of Law alumni.  

Stay tuned for more blog posts as we celebrate the law school’s centennial anniversary.