The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) honored Greg Fett of Arkansas on Tuesday with the Albert Schweitzer Medal for outstanding achievement in the advancement of animal welfare. Fett successfully detained the drivers of a livestock trailer at his tire shop while awaiting authorities to seize the 11 malnourished horses being transported.
Jennifer Lonsdale OBE, who cofounded the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and has dedicated more than three decades to protecting the world’s oceans from environmental crimes and abuses, has received the prestigious Schweitzer Medal from the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI).
Tom Knudson of the Sacramento Bee received the Schweitzer Medal on June 27 at a private celebration in California. For nearly 60 years, the medal—named in honor of Dr. Albert Schweitzer—has been a symbol of outstanding achievement in the advancement of animal welfare.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has awarded journalist Tom Knudson of the Sacramento Bee with the Schweitzer Medal for his outstanding investigative journalism and commitment to both thorough research and candor in writing and publishing a series of articles examining the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program.
Dr. Temple Grandin, a world-renowned proponent of the humane treatment of farmed animals, received the 2024 Schweitzer Medal from the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) in a ceremony Thursday.
Since 1994, at each meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties, AWI has honored individuals, organizations, and agencies that have demonstrated excellence in combatting wildlife crime with the
Since 1997, at each CITES CoP, AWI has honored individuals, organizations, and government agencies that have demonstrated excellence in the fight against wildlife crime with the Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award. The award, presented at a reception hosted by the Species Survival Network, is named after the late chief of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement, who pioneered the use of covert investigations, sting operations, and forensic science to identify and prosecute wildlife criminals.
The presentation of the Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award to eleven deserving recipients who demonstrated exemplary wildlife protection efforts was a highlight of the 15th meeting of CITES.
Exemplary wildlife law enforcement leaders from seven countries were recognized Tuesday with the Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award at the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Panama City.
AWI co-hosted an event to highlight the plight of the vaquita porpoise and the totoaba fish during the January meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Standing Committee.
AWI offers grants of up to US$8,000 toward the purchase of equipment or training of staff for the purpose of refining the care, husbandry, or housing of animals in experimentation to improve their welfare.
Dr. Naomi Rose, AWI’s marine mammal scientist, traveled to China in December to visit and evaluate several captive marine mammal facilities. She also gave two public presentations in Chengdu, one of China’s largest cities.
This past March, I traveled from Bangkok—where I had been attending the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)—to Manila to participate in an undercover investigation on the dog meat trade in the Philippines.
It should be a given that farm animals are protected from cruelty and needless suffering; from being warehoused in cramped, dark living spaces devoid of stimulation or even the ability to move; and from having beaks or tails cut off without anesthesia. Unfortunately, under the current legal framework, these basic assumptions do not hold.
In a letter issued today to President Donald Trump, Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) president Cathy Liss advocated for a permanent ban on imports of trophies of elephants and other imperiled species from African nations. Today’s letter follows a letter submitted by AWI in November, which applauded the president for temporarily halting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s efforts to roll back a ban that had previously been in place.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) joined 95 Canadian and international conservationists, scientists, politicians and animal welfare organizations in a letter sent to the Canadian government this week urging the closure of Canada’s domestic elephant ivory trade. Accompanying the letter was an online petition that garnered over 120,000 signatures—and continues to gather hundreds more each day—from concerned citizens wanting to see an end to ivory sales in Canada. Elephanatics, a Canadian elephant advocacy organization, is leading this #IvoryFreeCanada campaign effort.
For the past several years, AWI has supported the Africa Animal Welfare Conference (AAWC), an annual event that draws government officials, animal protection groups, and animal advocates from across the continent.
An enormous victory was achieved for animals this week when nearly 200 dogs and 54 cats were rescued from a North Carolina animal testing facility that closed its doors after an undercover investigation revealed apparent abuse of the animals by workers at the facility.
Conservation and animal welfare organizations have filed a legal challenge to the US Navy's plan to use high-intensity, mid-frequency active sonar in antisubmarine exercises in Hawai'i's waters. The planned sonar would emit blasts far louder than levels associated with mass whale strandings and fatalities.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) today joined the Organic Trade Association (OTA) in a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture. The suit seeks to force the USDA to implement the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) rule that was finalized in early 2017. The OLPP rule would have set minimum welfare standards for the millions of farm animals raised each year under the USDA’s National Organic Program.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is supporting thousands of veterinary professionals in their recent request to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) that the association revise its guidelines to no longer permit killing animals by inducing heat stroke, a method known as ventilation shutdown plus (VSD+).
AWI was honored to be with Willie Nelson and his family at the Hard Rock Café in New York City in June for a celebration of his 80th birthday, and to recognize his legacy and his commitment to activism on behalf of horses.
