Narrowly averting a government shutdown, Congress adopted a $460 billion spending package in March that included multiple wins for animals.
At the request of the Soliciter General, the Supreme Court will review a case from the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia, PA, which overturned a conviction involving so-called “crush videos” and called the law
In March of this year, as noted on page 2, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the Makah Tribe’s proposed hunt of gray whales—the first step toward issuing a waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to allow the hunt under US law. In its comments to NMFS, AWI asserts that the DEIS is inadequate, and that the MMPA waiver should not be granted.
Thirty members of Congress sent a bipartisan letter to the US Department of Agriculture in February with pointed questions about the department’s effort to counter the widespread use of ventilation shutdown plus heat (VSD+) to kill tens of million
In July, the US Department of Agriculture proposed a rule that, if finalized, would bring us closer to ending the egregiously inhumane practice of soring Tennessee Walking horses, racking horses, and other gaited breeds.
The US Department of Agriculture recently requested comments on a proposed rulemaking under the Packers and Stockyards Act, which governs how meat and poultry companies buy and source animals for slaughter.
Over three years ago, 14-year-old Canyon Mansfield and his dog, Kasey, stumbled upon an M-44 “cyanide bomb” while playing near the family’s backyard outside Pocatello, Idaho. The spring-activated device sprays sodium cyanide.
Millions of animals are exported from the United States annually—over 7.5 million animals in January 2015 alone. Most are shipped in aircrafts, but many are transported overseas in ocean vessels. These trips may last weeks and animals can suffer greatly from inadequate ventilation, loud noises, motion sickness, and heat stress—all of which increase susceptibility to illness and disease.
The Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture recently announced a formal agreement to jointly regulate cell-cultured meat and poultry products.
When the Biden administration issued an executive order on promoting competition in the American economy in July 2021, AWI responded by urging the US Department of Agriculture to address deceptive label claims as part of its effort to facilitate f
The Horse Protection Act (HPA) was passed in 1970 to clamp down on the practice of soring (intentionally injuring horses’ legs and hooves) to create a more high-stepping gait for walking horse shows.
International transport of farm animals by sea vessel is a major animal welfare issue, particularly for long-distance journeys, such as those taken by cattle and sheep from Europe and Australia to the Middle East and North Africa.
The USDA has amended regulations designed to reduce the suffering of horses transported for slaughter so as to include horses who are first transported to intermediate collection points.
At a slaughterhouse in Pennsylvania last year, an employee made three attempts to render a pig unconscious with a rifle, with the animal vocalizing after each shot to the head.
In November, the US Department of Agriculture published a final rule establishing animal welfare standards for the millions of animals raised on organic farms.
On May 20, the Obama Administration pledged to fully enforce the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Not a minute too soon, it turns out.
For years, US Department of Agriculture inspectors dutifully documented suffering: Chinchillas with eyes swollen, weeping, and sealed shut; a thin, unresponsive chinchilla, missing part of her leg, brutally “euthanized” by breaking her neck; anoth
In the Winter 2014 AWI Quarterly, AWI reported that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had proposed changing the poultry slaughter regulations to allow poultry companies to accelerate their slaughter process by 25 percent, increasing the likelihood of inhumane handling of birds.