The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) welcomes the reintroduction of the Public Safety and Wildlife Protection Act yesterday by Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC) and Nita Lowey (D-NY). This bill would prohibit the import and export of, as well as interstate commerce in, two of the most notorious types of body-gripping traps—steel-jaw leghold traps and Conibear (also known as kill-type) traps.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) for introducing Tuesday the Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered (SAVE) Right Whales Act (S.2453) to help protect this highly imperiled species.
AWI’s Rosalyn Morrison and Chris Heyde met in December with Dave Kush from the office of Rep. Chris Smith (D-NJ) and Ariel Penaranda, Minister for Legislative Affairs and Consul at the Embassy of the Philippines, concerning the illegal dog meat industry in that country.
Just as some people fail to recognize their responsibility to their dogs and cats, so too is the case with horses, many of whom are abandoned by their owners each year.
Washington, DC—Today, Safe Havens for Pets, an initiative of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), launched an expanded online directory to include sheltering services
When AWI discovered in July that the first unannounced inspection of the US Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) resulted in four citations for lack of adequate veterinary care, inadequate handling of animals with heat distress, and lack of adequate
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is disappointed to learn that SeaWorld San Diego has filed a lawsuit against the State of California, challenging an October 8 decision by the California Coastal Commission (CCC). The CCC voted unanimously to approve SeaWorld’s proposed Blue World project, conditional on SeaWorld ending the breeding program for its orcas. The CCC’s decision to attach this condition to the permit approval was not only progressive and humane, but was fully within its legal authority under the Coastal Act - squarely within the remit of the Commission to “maintain, enhance, and restore marine resources.”
Defending New York’s move to curtail the illegal ivory trade, AWI filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief earlier this month in support of a state law restricting trade in ivory and rhinoceros horns. The act prohibits the sale, purchase, trade, or distribution of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horns within New York, with certain exceptions. It also strengthens criminal and civil penalties for sellers whose actions are endangering elephant and rhinoceros populations worldwide.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has filed a complaint with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), raising significant issues about Baylor University’s mistreatment of rats in an undergraduate Learning & Behavior Lab course and the institution’s failure to respond to AWI’s documented concerns.
On August 17, AWI and allies filed a lawsuit against the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for allowing trappers in Maine to seriously injure and kill (“take”) Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), a federally protected species. The lawsuit requests that the court close down the state’s trapping season. As we go to press, we await news on when the case will be heard.
AWI and Wildlife Preserves, Inc., filed suit against the National Park Service and the superintendent of Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) on November 29 over a wildlife management plan that calls for killing many of the seashore’s white-tailed
The use of animal welfare and sustainability claims has increased dramatically over the past decade, as consumers have become more aware of and concerned about the well-being of animals raised for food and about the negative impacts of animal agriculture on the environment. But despite their interest, consumers are confused about the meaning of animal welfare and sustainability claims on labels, the accuracy of which they are typically unable to verify for themselves.
Today, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced the eight recipients of its Christine Stevens Wildlife Award who are developing creative tools and strategies to reduce or prevent conflicts between wild animals and humans.
Every year, AWI provides financial support for the creation and implementation of “refinement” initiatives meant to advance the welfare of animals used in research through improved housing, husbandry, handling, or care.
As people around the world watch in horror at the devastated communities and swelling numbers of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is committed to supporting animal welfare groups that are working tirelessly to house, feed, and care for animals affected by the ongoing crisis.
AWI has long been involved with the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention), a regional agreement signed in Cartagena, Colombia, in 1983.
Today, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced the eight recipients of its Christine Stevens Wildlife Award who are developing innovative, less intrusive wildlife study techniques and more humane, nonlethal methods of resolving conflicts between wild animals and humans.
AWI’s Good Husbandry Grants—administered through AWI’s Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) farm certification program—were initiated in 2008 to support individual projects on farms and ranches across North America that have a clear and positive impact on animal welfare and promote the ability of animals to express natural behaviors while being raised outdoors, on pasture.
Today, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced the nine recipients of its Christine Stevens Wildlife Award who are developing innovative, less intrusive wildlife study techniques and more humane methods of resolving conflicts between wild animals and humans.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced today the nine recipients of its Christine Stevens Wildlife Award who are developing humane solutions to human-wildlife conflicts and less intrusive methods to study wildlife.
Deer management is a significant issue across the country, and traditionally has resulted in lethal population control via sharpshooting, hunting with firearms, and bow hunting—despite the latter method’s documented inefficiency and potential for animals to be non-fatally wounded and suffer considerably.
In special recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Animal Welfare Institute announces the launch of the National Safe Havens for Pets Mapping Project, an online listing by state of safe havens for pets programs, available on the Animals & Family Violence section of the AWI website.
