The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is relieved to hear that no whales will be killed by Icelandic whalers this summer. In a June television news interview, Ólafur Ólafsson, a whaling vessel captain, said that the two fin whaling vessels operated by Hvalur hf will remain dockside for now, despite the Iceland government’s decision in late February to set a whaling quota of 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales annually from 2019 to 2023.
AWI has long been involved in the issue of anthropogenic ocean noise directly or indirectly generated by the military, the oil and gas industry, commercial shipping, and scientific research.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) applauds Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) for introducing today the Right Whale Coexistence Act to help protect the highly imperiled North Atlantic right whale.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) welcomes bills—introduced today by Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and Senator Tom Udall (D-NM)—to repeal the devastating regulatory changes to the Endangered Species Act that were finalized last month by the Trump administration.
This year, AWI welcomes four esteemed individuals to its Scientific Committee: Drs. Frank Cipriano, Cristina Eisenberg, David Fraser, and Richard Reading. They will join three long-standing members on the committee: Drs. Roger Fouts, Viktor Reinhardt, and Robert Schmidt. The deep knowledge, experience, perspective, ethics, and commitment of these scientists help AWI work toward our objectives on behalf of animals. We are grateful for their support.
The Animal Welfare Institute congratulates Governor Eddie Baza Calvo of Guam for signing Bill 44-31 into law, prohibiting any person from possessing, selling or distributing shark fins in the territory.
Sunday, on the first day of the 117th Congress, the Preventing Future Pandemics Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives to address the spillover of emerging infectious diseases from wildlife to humans.
A federal district court in Georgia last Friday granted a request to intervene filed by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), Cetacean Society International, and Earth Island Institute in a lawsuit challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) denial of a request for a permit to import 18 wild-caught beluga whales from Russia for public display.
At the annual Association of Professional Humane Educators (APHE) Educator’s Choice Awards in April, AWI took home the top prize in the category “Best Education Resources” for our suite
As interest in farm animal welfare and environmental sustainability increases, more and more producers of meat, poultry, dairy, and egg products seek to assure potential customers—via claims on food packaging—that their animals are raised using higher standards. Unfortunately, it can be hard for consumers to determine the truth of these label claims for a number of reasons.
Each year, nearly 12 million cargo containers enter the United States via a network of 360 US seaports. Monitoring, tracking and inspecting such a huge number of shipments is a major challenge for those intent on stemming the rapid escalation in wildlife trade—illegal wildlife trade, in particular.
The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention) is the only legally binding environmental treaty in the region focused on the protection of biodiversity.
The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region—commonly referred to as the Cartagena Convention—is the only legally binding regional environmental treaty focused on the protection of biodiversity. Adopted in 1983 in Cartagena, Colombia, the treaty entered into force in 1986.
House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees have again expressed disappointment with the pace of efforts by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to end the purchase of dogs and cats from random source Class B dealers by its external grant recipients.
Four baboons housed in an outdoor corral escaped from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute (TBRI) by using a 55-gallon barrel to scale the enclosure.
Two captive beluga whales who had been held at an entertainment facility in China have just been given a chance to stretch their flippers in a new sea pen sanctuary.
Floyd and Susan Martin were random source Class B dealers who, over the years, kept thousands of animals in appalling conditions at their Chestnut Grove Kennels in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
The second session of the 114th Congress opened in January. On the 20th of the month, despite strong minority opposition and contentious debate, the Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works approved the “Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act” (S 659).
Even as some state legislatures seek to cover up abuse via ag-gag bills, a few are in pursuit of higher ground: last year, Rhode Island joined a growing list of states that prohibit intensive confinement crates for calves raised for veal and gestating sows. Rhode Island also became the fourth state to ban routine tail docking of cattle.
As reported in the Winter 2014 AWI Quarterly, a dispute resolution panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reached a landmark decision this past November in a case brought by Canada and Norway against the European Union (EU) because of the EU’s ban on imports of commercial seal products.
"Barbaric, Barbaric, Barbaric!" This is the phrase recently opined by Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, our nation's longest-serving US Senator and last great political orator. Following news of charges leveled against Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick, Senator Byrd described the tragic and gruesome practice of dog fighting in a heartfelt speech on the Senate floor.
Gray wolf expansion into previously occupied habitat is among the most ecologically successful but socially controversial wildlife restoration efforts undertaken in the western United States. Conflicts between wolves and humans arising from livestock depredation have resulted in the killing of thousands of wolves and continue to undermine species recovery. More than 100 studies indicate that nonlethal methods of deterring carnivores from livestock are as effective as or superior to lethal control.
Barn fires cause immense suffering, killing hundreds of thousands of farmed animals every year. Some farmed animals die almost immediately as fires burn through the barns, while others have to be euthanized later due to severe burns and smoke inhalation.
The Animal Welfare Institute released an updated report in January 2025, compiling information on the prevalence and causes of farmed animal deaths due to barn fires during the preceding three-year period (2022–2024). During those years, over 2.53 million farmed animals perished in barn fires. Over ninety-eight percent of those deaths were were farmed birds. The high death toll from these incidents is being driven primarily by fires occurring at massive operations housing several thousand to over 1 million animals.
