The animal protection community lost a true champion for chimpanzees on May 2, when Dr. Carole Noon passed away at 59 years of age after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) engages in precedent-setting litigation on behalf of animals in state and federal courts across the country, and most recently has been involved in nationally recognized cases to promote the welfare of horses, elephants, bats and marine mammals. Starting with the staff at our Washington, D.C.
Few endangered species sagas are as complex as the fight to save the Florida panther. Journalist Craig Pittman does an excellent job of untangling 50 years of biopolitics, egos, and evolving science in his new book Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther.
What is the best strategy to capture animals who escape from their primary enclosure? It's my experience with group- and single-housed rhesus and stump-tailed macaques that catching animals who get loose can be a very traumatic, chaotic event not only for the animal who is free but for all the animals of the room.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) are urging the Russian Federation to suspend imports of cattle by sea from the United States. This request from animal welfare organizations follows an incident in August in which more than 1,000 out of 3,400 breeding dairy cattle from one US shipment died en route to Russia or had to be euthanized upon arrival due to their extremely poor condition.
Unimaginable. Traumatic. That’s how the veterinarians who treated Cub described his injuries. He was discovered hobbling along a road in New Mexico; his body riddled with shotgun pellets as he tried to move on the exposed ends of bones where his hind legs once were. He had been caught in a steel-jaw leghold trap, and after being discovered by the trapper, he was shot. Still, somehow, he survived.
In a tragedy that made international headlines, Cecil the lion, a 13-year-old pride leader described as the “biggest tourist attraction” of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, was killed by American trophy hunter Walter James Palmer in July.
The Endangered Species Act was signed into law in December 1973 to prevent the extinction of wildlife both at home and abroad. Fifty years later, it remains one of the strongest and most effective conservation laws in the world.
AWI’s work to protect animals and their environment couldn’t be accomplished without our supporters and the advocates whose calls to policymakers and legislators reinforce our work.
Celebrities and animal conservation and welfare NGOs from across the globe are calling for an “international whaling intervention” to be staged at the G20 summit in Osaka as summit host Japan prepares to launch a renewed commercial whaling program. The program will see Japan openly killing sei, Bryde’s and minke whales for consumption with no pretense of science.
If you have been searching for an engaging new hobby to help you recover from the COVID-19 doldrums, Celebrating Birds: An Interactive Field Guide Featuring Art from Wingspan is an ideal entry point into the world of birdwatching. In the past year, the popularity of bird watching has soared as people have looked for new ways to get out of the house and explore the world around them in a safe, socially distanced way. As spring begins, and legions of birds begin to return to our neighborhoods and open spaces for breeding and nesting season, now is the perfect time to pick up a field guide to help you identify the birds that you see on your outdoor excursions.
As part of the “Horses on the Hill” event, celebrities, local school children, young equestrians and advocates joined Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., sponsors of the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (S. 541/H.R. 1094), at the Capitol to urge legislators to permanently protect our nation’s horses from inhumane slaughter. The event was co-hosted by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), The Humane Society of the United States and the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
As part of the “Horses on the Hill” event, celebrities, school children and citizen advocates joined Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., sponsor of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S. 1176 / H.R. 2966), at the Capitol to urge legislators to permanently protect our nation’s horses from inhumane slaughter. The event was co-hosted by the Animal Welfare Institute, the ASPCA (the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and The Humane Society of the United States.
In April, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)—an arm of the White House that coordinates federal environmental activities and policy development—took the most drastic action since its creation in 1970 by rescinding nearly 50 years’ worth of
Today the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) took the most drastic action since its creation in 1970 by rescinding 50 years’ worth of regulations that implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This decision, which was issued in an interim final rule published earlier this year, went into effect this morning. The impacts of this action are sweeping and severe. This decision will cause NEPA processes to be more unpredictable, reducing the public’s ability to fully raise concerns about the destruction of wildlife habitat and loss of biodiversity, declines in air and water quality, and harm to public health.
Orcas are too wide-ranging, too socially complex, and simply too large to cope with captivity in concrete tanks that are a tiny fraction the size of their natural home ranges.
In March 2022, the US Department of Agriculture issued an exhibitor’s license under the Animal Welfare Act to the new owners of Miami Seaquarium that omits the Whale Stadium and its residents—the orca Tokitae (Toki) and the Pacific white-sided dol
Technology entrepreneurs have designed an animatronic dolphin so lifelike that volunteers who swam with it were unaware it was not alive until told the truth. Its battery lasts 10 hours, and it is resistant to saltwater for up to 10 years.
The past three years have seen considerable progress on the campaign to end the display of captive cetaceans. The change appears to date from the tragic death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was killed by the orca Tilikum. Sadly, it is just such a calamity that too often serves as the catalyst for reform.
Along with the unexpected outcome of the presidential race (see page 2), Election Day 2016 resulted in the defeat of two lawmakers who have worked to improve animal welfare.
