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.
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.
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The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced today that it has been awarded an A+ rating by CharityWatch, a leading independent charity-rating organization, in its recently released Winter 2014-2015 Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report. Of the 41 charities evaluated by CharityWatch in the “Animal and Animal Protection” category of its report, AWI was the sole organization to receive this highest rating. This is the fourth consecutive year that AWI has received an A+ rating from CharityWatch.
In other news related to horse welfare, a major victory was gained when the Chicago City Council voted 46–4 to ban the use of horse-drawn carriages in the city. The law takes effect next year.
Nestled in the Western New York community of Alfred, Windy Ridge Natural Farms is a pasture-based poultry farm that raises its laying hens in accordance with AWI’s Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) standards.
Residents of Delaware’s Inland Bays community are crying foul on a nearby Mountaire Farms chicken plant that produces millions of gallons of wastewater a month from slaughtering and processing chickens.
"Chimp Crazy,” the four-part docuseries premiering August 18 on HBO Max, aims to expose the dangerous and cruel trade in primates as pets that has destroyed lives — both human and nonhuman — across the country.
Though the proverb warns that "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," it makes no mention of primates in zoo exhibits. Santino, a 30-year-old chimp in Sweden's Furuvik zoo, has been doing just that for 14 years now, angrily launching rocks and discs of concrete into crowds of tourists, New Scientist reported on their website in March.
Chimpanzees have been found to be the only readily available nonhuman primates which are highly susceptible to HIV-1 infection: their use in AIDS research, however, raises difficult bioethical questions. Four years ago, a group of scientists addressed the issue of the supply of chimpanzees for AIDS research [ 17] and concluded that sufficient animals were already available in medical research facilities to satisfy reasonable needs for the foreseeable future, so that importing of additional animals from the wild could not be justified. This situation has not changed.
On April 4, 2014, in a Notice of Agency Decision, NIH announced its new requirement regarding the minimum floor space required for each of the remaining chimpanzees in NIH-supported research (see Summer 2013 AWI Quarterly). NIH’s Council of Councils Working Group on the Use of Chimpanzees in NIH-Supported Research (Working Group) had originally recommended 1,000 ft2 per chimpanzee. This recommendation, however, was rejected.
