AWI is pleased to announce publication of the tenth edition of Comfortable Quarters for Laboratory Animals, our guide to the humane housing and handling of animals in research. AWI has produced editions of Comfortable Quarters for the past half century to serve as a key resource for animal care personnel in laboratories.
The Animal Welfare Institute works to secure protections for animals in agriculture by engaging with key policymakers at the state, federal and international levels. AWI regularly provides public comments, testimony and similar input to such bodies in furtherance of our mission to reduce animal suffering. Examples of AWI public comments, testimony and other input can be found below in downloadable PDF format.
Although the captive breeding wildlife (CBW) registration system was established to facilitate the captive breeding of endangered and threatened species in order to enhance the conservation of the species in the wild, the vast majority of CBW registrants breed species in captivity with no intent to ever reintroduce any of their animals into the wild. Instead, in an attempt to meet the “conservation” requirement for obtaining or renewing a CBW registration, they make donations to in-situ conservation programs.
The multi-billion dollar trade in wildlife and wildlife parts and products is a crisis that animal species are facing worldwide. Animals are captured, killed and traded live or in parts for a number of purposes such as for food and medicine; clothing and ornaments; entertainment, including for pets, zoos and aquariums; and for research.
Commercial whaling (distinguished from ASW by its participants, purpose, scale, and techniques) began in the 11th century with the Basque inhabitants of the French and Spanish coastlines of the Bay of Biscay. In the ensuing centuries, as they depleted local populations of whales, starting with right whales, Basque efforts expanded north, influencing other nations in northern Europe and eventually North America to begin their own whaling operations. Great Britain started hunting bowhead whales around the North American colonies in 1611 and American colonists began whaling (a practice known as Yankee whaling) out of Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1712. Through the 18th and 19th centuries, whaling was driven by demand not for meat, but for whale oil, which literally lit the lamps and greased the wheels of the industrial revolution. Other whale products also held value, including ambergris (a stomach excretion of sperm whales used as a perfume fixative) and baleen (most famously used to stiffen womens’ corsets).
Results of a joint study between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Vietnam’s Forest Protection Department revealed in May that commercial wildlife farms in Vietnam are threatening Asian animal species by depleting their populations and contributing to illegal trade.
AWI works to influence policies and welfare standards that govern the way animals are treated during each phase of production. Welfare concerns vary based on species. Information about specific welfare issues associated with commonly farmed animal species is provided below.
As for Blackfish itself, its impact continues to be felt in society. It has been six years since the film premiered and in that time several erstwhile corporate partners have severed ties with SeaWorld and other marine theme parks, recognizing the shift in public sentiment away from these exploitative tourist attractions.
AWI champions the mutually beneficial relationship between people and pets and promotes responsible care of companion animals. We seek strong legal protections for companion animals and develop tools and trainings to help law enforcement, social service providers, and other professionals address the link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence—including resources for domestic violence survivors with companion animals.
Steel-jaw leghold traps used for the capture of wild furbearing animals inflict terrible suffering on their victims. The American Veterinarian Association, the American Animal Hospital Association, the World Veterinary Association, and the National Animal Control Association all agree that leghold traps are inhumane.
Considering potential effects on social behaviour and individual needs according to age and sex differences is important when designing enrichment programmes for captive primates. Manipulable objects are a widely practised form of enrichment at facilities housing non-human primates.
There are now signs also in the USA that the importance of a positive human-animal relationship in research laboratories is appreciated more seriously, and that in addition to knowledge and skills, primary attributes of animal research personnel must be feelings of compassion and sensitivity toward animals to safeguard the reliability of scientific research data.
AWI is pleased to announce publication of Compassion Makes a Difference, the third volume of discussions from the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF), edited by longtime AWI laboratory animal advisor, Viktor Reinhardt.
Whether they are thoroughbreds running full tilt around an outdoor track or walking horses stepping gracefully across an arena, horses bred for competition undergo extensive training and conditioning.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) revealed today that the US Department of Agriculture filed a complaint earlier this year against Wild Wilderness, Inc., a notorious Arkansas tourist attraction operated by the Wilmoth family that exhibits domestic, wild and exotic animals. The complaint, filed on January 9, details repeated allegations of egregious Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations against the exhibitor.
On the heels of the historic settlement between the US Department of Agriculture and Santa Cruz Biotechnology (SCBT), another huge commercial operation licensed as an animal dealer and registered as a research facility is under scrutiny, accused of numerous serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
Our project, supported by an AWI Refinement Research Award, focused on evaluating the safety of using compressed waste newspaper as a digging and enrichment substrate for naked mole-rats. These unique fossorial rodents, equipped with ever-growing incisors, create intricate burrows in substrates ranging from sand to hard clay and rock. However, in laboratory facilities, they are often housed on loose cob or chip bedding, creating a mismatch between their natural adaptation and the provided environment. This discrepancy prompted us to explore alternative materials to bridge this gap. Preliminary investigations involved processing newspapers into pulp and shaping them into large columns of compressed newspaper that our naked mole-rats excavated into spiraling tunnels, offering them the choice and control over engineering their own living space.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) recently held two meetings of the “Small Working Group on the Future of the IWC,” which was formed at the last annual meeting in Santiago, Chile.
Endangered California condors in Arizona and Utah are showing a substantial decrease in toxic blood-lead levels—possibly the result of a drop in lead-based ammunition by hunters.
The Wild Horse Symposium and 7th International Conference on Fertility Control in Wildlife was held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from August 29 to September 1. Researchers from around the world discussed recent scientific, regulatory, and practical developments in the use of contraceptives to manage wildlife populations in place of traditional lethal methods and as disease-managing tools.
Whales and dolphins are complex social animals and are not well suited for a life in captivity. When confined, they are prevented from carrying out natural behaviors, which include roaming up to 100 miles per day, hunting live prey, and interacting with their pod mates—who also suffer when pod members are removed. When forced to interact with humans in a captive situation they have been known to behave aggressively.
AWI extends our congratulations to Hailey Chui (California), Katja Erringer (Oregon), Sage Farrow (Colorado), Lien Ferry (Pennsylvania), Makenna Owens (Florida), Will Smith (Minnesota), Isabelle Sydow (Minnesota), and Chloe Quin (Illinois).
Every year, AWI awards grants of up to US$10,000 to support research projects aimed at developing or testing new and creative ways to improve the welfare of animals in research.
