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The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (HR 2811), a bill that would prohibit the sale of shark fins, was reintroduced in the House of Representatives this past Earth Day with 104 members signing on as original cosponsors (twice the number from last Congress).
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In a surprise move, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced in January that it is closing down, effective May 2017, after 146 years in operation. In explaining the decision, Chief Operating Officer Juliette Feld of Feld Entertainment Inc.—owner of the circus for the past 50 years—cited ”a downward trend in attendance over 10 years” as the public’s taste in entertainment changed.

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Today, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the federal district court in Washington DC issued a major ruling rejecting the last-ditch attempt of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to avoid trial over charges that the circus abuses its Asian elephants in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act.
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“Concerning oceans, there is reason to suggest that the outcomes could be characterized as Rio+20 minus 40.” That was the assessment of National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle as she reported on the decided lack of progress from the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the second decadal follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit.

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Amazingly, the ambient temperature around a buried green sea turtle egg influences the turtle’s gender. The warmer it gets, the more likely the baby will be female.

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Efforts to protect octopuses from commercial farming continue, with legislation proposed this year in several states to prohibit octopus farming and the sale of farmed octopus products.

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People have long admired cranes for their tall and stately posture, their monogamous pair bonds involving ritual courtship dances and territorial unison calls, and their majestic flight. In some cultures, cranes symbolize peace and freedom.

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UC Davis researcher Fraser Shilling and colleagues created a website for Californians to report on roadkill. The goal is to collect data that could help transportation planners and conservation managers design more wildlife-friendly roads.

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On November 7, 2010, two weeks after his 91st birthday, long-time AWI colleague and whale advocate Robbins Wolcott Barstow, Jr. died at his home in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

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It came as a terrible shock. A tremor ran through me and my insides felt empty and sad when I was told that Bob Anderson had died. Wildlife has lost one of its most competent and devoted defenders. Human society has lost one of its most decent and considerate persons. I have lost a friend whom I admired enormously.

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Camilla Bengtsson and Marie Eriksson, researchers at the RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, have recently gained some international acclaim for their unique approach to handling and training laboratory mice and rats to reduce stress, anxiety, and

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The national meeting of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) in San Diego featured a description of the many ways to modify existing caging and employ social introduction methods for nonhuman primates.

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Roots of Human Behavior is a vibrant photo documentation of the parallels between animal and human expressions, emotions and psychology. It is another book in a series of AWI publications whose purpose is to improve the treatment of captive animals.
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In March, Iowa enacted a law that will require most egg retailers in the state to continue carrying “conventional” eggs from hens raised in densely packed battery cages.

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In a great victory for animal welfare, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40) succeeded in including language in the manager’s amendment of the House Appropriations Committee’s Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture Bill to deny funds for the licensing or relicensing of Class B animal dealers who sell “random source” dogs and cats for use in research. The bill passed the full House Appropriations Committee earlier yesterday, July 8, 2015.
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President Obama denied a permit in January for the Keystone XL pipeline’s proposed route over the border from Canada, across the critically important Ogallala Aquifer, on down to the Gulf of Mexico. At an Oklahoma photo-op in March, however, the president expressed support for expedited construction of a southern pipeline leg below the aquifer.

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In 2012, the animal protection community was shocked to learn that an orca (later named Narnia) had been captured in the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia.

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After a two-year break, Russia has once again issued permits to capture free-ranging orcas and belugas in the Sea of Okhotsk for display in entertainment parks.

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As used here, "safe havens" refers to the sheltering services available in an area that assist victims of domestic violence with placing their companion animals out of harm's way so that they may seek safety for themselves

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AWI’s Safe Havens for Pets Mapping Project aims to provide an accurate listing of the nation’s available safe havens for pets—i.e., sheltering services that assist individuals experiencing domestic violence in placing their companion animals out o

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At times it may seem difficult to locate the "win/win" in a situation. Not so when it comes to recognizing the link between animal abuse and domestic violence - and using it to combat both.

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In honor of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) released new research today that ranks states according to the number of safe havens available per capita.
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The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends lawmakers from the US House of Representatives for including the Horse Transportation Safety Act (HTSA) in transportation legislation unveiled last week.
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The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for passing the Horse Transportation Safety Act (HTSA) today as part of surface transportation legislation. The HTSA would ban the use of unsafe double-deck trailers to haul horses in interstate commerce.
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There is increasing concern that the conventional single-housing arrangement of laboratory macaques (cf. Bayne, 1989) is unsatisfactory both for ethical and scientific reasons (Segal, 1989; USDA, 1991; CCAC, 1993; IPS, 1993). Biomedical professionals, however, may contend that transferring adult macaques from social isolation to a social-housing arrangement is unethical because of the risk of fighting associated with partner intolerance. A simple technique has recently been described that allows pair formation of previously single-caged adult male rhesus macaques without undue risk.
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