Japan faces international criticism and risks legal challenges as it launches a government-subsidized commercial whaling program to kill 383 whales this year with no international oversight.
On December 28, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, issued a written statement announcing the government’s decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in order “to resume commercial whaling” within its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Provided that Japan has complied with the notification provisions of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) and does not withdraw its notice before it takes effect, Japan’s 65-year membership in the IWC will end on June 30.
During this session of Congress, numerous measures have been introduced to modify Department of Transportation (DOT) commercial truck driver requirements.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for proposing requirements for the welfare of animals raised under the Certified Organic label. AWI generally supports the proposed regulations, which are based on the recommendations of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), an advisory body to the USDA’s organic program.
May 1 marks the end of elephants being hauled around the country to perform for Ringling Bros. circus. While we celebrate the termination of this cruel and archaic practice, tragically, the elephants will not be spending the rest of their lives in nirvana. Rather than sending them to a sanctuary, the elephants will be held at the company’s Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida, long known for chaining and keeping elephants on concrete and for using bullhooks and electric prods. While the site may have “conservation” in its name, the elephants will be bred to produce more captive elephants with no hope of returning to the wild.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has confirmed from contacts on the ground that the last four remaining bottlenose dolphins at Dolphinaris Arizona were transferred out of the facility late last night. It is our understanding that the dolphins were flown to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, to take up temporary, or possibly permanent, residence in the newly constructed dolphin sea pen at Coral World Ocean Park in Water Bay.
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc., announced today the resignation of CEO Joel Manby. The announcement came with the release of the company’s fourth quarter and fiscal 2017 results, which showed a loss of $20.4 million in revenue.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and other animal advocacy organizations issued an open letter today to Joel Manby, CEO of SeaWorld, requesting the release of Tilikum's necropsy (animal autopsy) report and his full veterinary records.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service issued today a notice in the Federal Register allowing hunters to bring trophies of elephants killed in Zimbabwe back to the United States, reversing a ban put in place by the Obama administration in 2014.
Following a comment period that produced over 100,000 comments, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced late yesterday its rejection of a petition submitted by the National Chicken Council to implement a waiver system allowing for poultry lines to operate at unlimited speeds.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) finalized plans this week to withdraw the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule. The rule would have improved the lives of millions of animals raised under the Certified Organic Label.
A breeding-age female vaquita porpoise died on November 4, following her capture by the VaquitaCPR (Conservation, Protection and Recovery) program—which seeks to capture and temporarily relocate the remaining vaquita to an ocean pen in the Upper Gulf of California. With fewer than 30 vaquita remaining in the wild, the loss of a reproductive female is catastrophic for the species’ future.
In December, Earthjustice filed suit in Hawai’i federal court on behalf of AWI, challenging approval by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of a five-year plan by the US Navy for testing and training activities, including active sonar and explosive use, in massive areas of the Pacific Ocean off Hawai’i and Southern California.
AWI is suing the Bureau of Land Management after the agency finalized a management plan to eliminate millions of acres of federally designated habitat for wild horses in Wyoming.
In November, AWI and allies filed a lawsuit against Mendocino County, California, alleging that the county failed to conduct the legally-required environmental review of its contract with the USDA’s Wildlife Services program. The contract authorizes Wildlife Services to kill thousands of animals in the county every year, including coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, bears, foxes, and others, without first assessing the ecological impact or considering nonlethal alternatives.
AWI and allies filed a lawsuit in June challenging the renewal by Monterey County, California, of its contract with the US Department of Agriculture’s deadly Wildlife Services program. The lawsuit asserts that the renewal of the contract violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because the county failed to analyze the environmental impacts of its agreement and wrongfully claimed an exemption from CEQA.
AWI filed suit in January against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) related to the agencies’ refusal to enforce requirements for SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment to submit n
In February, AWI and a coalition of animal groups sued the USDA for its decision to deny a petition asking the department to ban the cruel practice of slaughtering nonambulatory disabled (NAD) pigs.
The suffering of birds at federally inspected slaughter establishments is staggering. During the winter months, trucks arrive at the plants with birds who are dead and frozen to their transport cages.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) late yesterday filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its unreasonable delay in responding to an AWI petition—filed in May 2013—to amend the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) to prevent incidents of inhumane handling and the needless suffering of animals at slaughter.
Today, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) sued the US Department of Agriculture for its unreasonable delay in responding to a 2014 AWI petition, which asked the agency to require independent certification of certain animal raising label claims.
On August 23, AWI and Farm Sanctuary sued the US Department of Agriculture for failing to adequately respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request asking for proactive disclosure of slaughter records.
On June 21, AWI and allies sued the Wildlife Services program of the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) over the program’s “Wildlife Damage Management” efforts in northern California.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) supports the reintroduction of the Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act (TEAPSPA). Sponsored by Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and David Schweikert (R-AZ), this bill would amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the use of exotic animals in traveling shows.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) endorses the Child and Animal Abuse Detection and Reporting Act of 2019, introduced today by Representatives Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH) and John Katko (R-NY). This legislation would amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to require that data collected by the federal government from state child protection agencies include information about animal abuse as a risk factor for child abuse.
