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Laying hens belong on pasture where they can spend their day exploring and scratching in the grasses for insects, dust-bathing in the earth, stretching their wings, socializing with other hens, and basking in the sun. Although the vast majority of laying hens are still confined in row after row of cramped, barren “battery” cages stacked one on top of the other, an industry transformation is underway.

According to a recent report published by the University of British Columbia in Canada, 90 percent of the global small fish catch—which includes anchovies, sardines and mackerel—is processed into fish meal and fish oil and used in animal feed.

Ever wonder where the fur in that celebrity’s designer parka came from? Chances are, it came from a terrified mink in a tiny cage.

The California referendum to prohibit housing sows in gestation crates, hens in battery cages, and veal calves in crates by 2015 passed in November by a nearly two-to-one margin.

In 1995, the US Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) invited AWI’s Dr. Naomi Rose (then with another organization) to co-author a chapter on captive marine mammals for a book it was publishing on marine mammal policy.

Meredith is a new animal control officer. She has been directed to visit a particular home on multiple occasions because of complaints from neighbors of dogs barking or running loose.

To keep their interest and encourage natural behaviors, animals in research facilities are often offered enrichment devices: objects to gnaw on, nesting materials that allow them to custom build their shelters, "food puzzles" to forage, and various toys to keep them occupied during the long hours cooped up in cages.

A group of five pygmy killer whales appeared in the shallow waters off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kihei in early May - a worrisome and rare sight, since the species’ habitat is far offshore in deep waters.

Thanks to a flurry of activity at the end, the 113th Congress escaped the ignominy of being the least productive Congress in modern history. (It was the second-least productive, right behind the 112th.) Nonetheless, we made important gains on behalf of animals through provisions in the trillion-dollar spending bill passed right before Congress adjourned.

Karen Paolillo’s new book focuses on the lives of a small group of wild hippos, but she also provides a broader look at the lives of wildlife and people in southeastern Zimbabwe. The former is captivating and much of the latter is deeply disturbing.

After perhaps the most disheartening, divisive campaign in modern memory, the votes have been tabulated. Next year, a new administration will plant its flag in Washington, DC. A new Congress will convene. A new era will begin for the citizens of America and, by extension, the citizens of the world affected by American policy.

When a pit bull, a mother and a young child are featured in the same news story, the ending is often predictable, but in November, the NBC headline was quite different. 

It’s no skin off their backs.

Twenty years ago (midway through my career at AWI) I was appointed AWI president following the untimely death of our founding president (and my mentor), Christine Stevens. One year later, I met Susan Millward.

Dear Members and other friends of AWI:

As you know, coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading around the globe, and the human species is facing a pandemic unlike any the vast majority of us have endured in our lifetimes.

Meanwhile, veterinarian and ethologist, Viktor Reinhardt—at that time an attending veterinarian at the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center—was busy laying the foundation for a new paradigm in primate housing. Viktor recognized that the housing and care of animals in research needed to change, and proceeded to find feasible ways to make improvements for the monkeys— mostly rhesus macaques—at the Center. He documented the psychological suffering of social primates who were housed in isolation, and the pain and distress of those who endured forcible restraint for blood draws and other procedures.