By Walter Villa, Special to STU
Two years ago, an adorable four-month-old kitten showed up on Stephanie Tamayo’s doorstep.
“People say I adopted her,” Tamayo said of the cat she named Miso.
“But, in reality, she adopted me.”
Tamayo, a 3L student at St. Thomas University’s Benjamin L. Crump College of Law, has been forever changed by the presence of Miso in her life.
Her love for Miso helps explains why she is the vice president of STU’s Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) Student Chapter.
Earlier this month, Tamayo, past president Maegan Zamora, and STU ALDF secretary Karem Cortez traveled to Portland for the 32nd annual Animal Law Conference.
In 2023, STU’s organization was named the country’s top ALDF student chapter. This year, the STU contingent made the aforementioned trip to Portland on scholarship, courtesy of two groups: the Animal Legal Defense Fund and Attorneys for Animals.
Tamayo credits Zamora with the success of STU’s student chapter. The organization had been dormant for five years when Zamora brought it back in 2022.
“She’s going to be modest and say it was a team effort,” Tamayo said of Zamora. “But when I met her, she was so cool and so passionate. She put all her energy into this.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God – someone who really cares!’ I knew I had to be part of this organization. I could feel it in my bones.”
Zamora, who officially graduated from STU’s College of Law in July, plans to take the bar exam in February. In the meantime, she is working as a law clerk for a civil-litigation firm.
As for her journey into the world of protecting animals, it all started eight years ago when she went to a shelter and adopted Odin, a male pit bull terrier.
“Because of his breed, people told me, ‘Don’t do it!’” Zamora said. “But those people were wrong. Odin wouldn’t hurt a fly.
“It’s not the breed. It’s how you treat your pet.”
Zamora, 26, said Odin had physical scars when she first adopted him.
Emotional ones, too.
“He was scared of everyone,” Zamora said. “It opened me up to the possibility that he might have been abused previously, and that’s not something I had ever contemplated.”
Over time, Zamora dove deeper into the issue of animal cruelty. She wanted to know why anyone would do this, and she wanted to know how to protect animals.
All of that led her to revive STU’s ALDF student chapter, where she met Tamayo, Cortez, and others.
Karem Cortez – whose family jokes that her first name is a typo (but it is not) – had her life changed eight years ago by a rabbit named Cinnamon, her first pet.
Soon after adopting Cinnamon, Cortez became a vegetarian.
“I couldn’t love Cinnamon and ignore how others of his kind are treated,” Cortez said. “I switched up my diet, and it’s been great.
“Cinnamon doesn’t give me constant validation like other pets do, but he taught me how to respect other beings.”
Cortez, a 28-year-old native of Panama, comes from a family of musicians and artists. Her father, for example, is a violinist.
“I’m still figuring out how I got here (in the study of law),” Cortez said with a laugh. “I’m tackling the law with a creative mind.
“It’s been a challenge because the law doesn’t necessarily provide a space for creativity.”
Cortez said she’s learned a lot along the way.
“Creativity is the absence of fear,” she said. “You may hit a few walls, but we have the ability to redirect ourselves.
“Once I applied that thinking to my law career, I started to feel more confidence, and now I can show up as myself.”
For Tamayo, her authentic self is her desire to assist – whether that is people, animals, or a worthwhile cause.
In fact, she has her eyes on running for public office one day.
“I went to law school because I want to help,” said Tamayo, 26. “Some people said that was too broad of a goal, but it’s my foundation.
“Helping people find the resources they need is gratifying to me.”
Advocating for the humane treatment of animals is also gratifying, and it unites Tamayo, Zamora, and Cortez.
All three women said the law conference in Portland was inspiring because they had a chance to connect and network with like-minded individuals.
“It was amazing,” said Cortez, who one day wants to own a farm or some sort of animal sanctuary. “In law school, there are moments when you have some self-doubt.
“But at the conference in Portland, I felt like I belonged.”
Anyone interested in joining the fight to protect animals, please contact STU’s ALDF student chapter at saldf@stu.edu.
