The International Whaling Commission (IWC) allows for whaling on otherwise protected animals when it is conducted by certain indigenous people to satisfy subsistence needs. The rules for aboriginal subsistence whaling (ASW) are contained in paragraph 13 of the Schedule to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) and allow for “aborigines,” whose cultural, subsistence, and nutritional need for whales and whaling has been recognized by the IWC, to hunt some baleen whale species “exclusively for local consumption.”
Date created: September 23, 2011
Last updated: September 10, 2021
A coalition of animal welfare and conservation organizations launched a two-week advertising campaign today on Alaska Dispatch News to coincide with the Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER). The State Department–sponsored conference in Anchorage will highlight domestic and international priorities in the Arctic. The conference brings together foreign ministers of Arctic nations and key non-Arctic states with scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders from Alaska and the Arctic.
Date created: August 31, 2015
Last updated: January 18, 2024
In August, the Trump administration released final regulations that severely weaken critical Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections at a time when increased threats from habitat destruction and climate change necessitate full enforcement of the ESA.
Date created: October 10, 2019
Last updated: April 17, 2024
Zero. That’s how much money was in the proposed budget for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) under the Reagan administration.
Date created: April 8, 2019
Last updated: April 8, 2019
The dismantling of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) by the USDA continues unabated. The entire program—inspections, long-standing policies, and enforcement—is in shambles, leaving animals with virtually no protection. And gleaning what is happening is no small task given the USDA’s misleading pie charts, buried statistics, verbal (i.e., not documented) dictates, and anonymity granted to so much of industry. But here is what we’ve pieced together.
Date created: July 1, 2019
Last updated: May 14, 2021
The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is facing a grave threat.
Date created: September 26, 2018
Last updated: September 26, 2018
The president and the executive branch hold enormous sway in setting US wildlife policy—from signing (or vetoing) wildlife-related legislation, to issuing orders and regulations that enhance (or remove) protections for wildlife and habitat, to nom
Date created: March 25, 2021
Last updated: April 17, 2024
In a typically hardscrabble corner of southeastern Wyoming, a surprising series of sophisticated yurts and yards punctuate 1,000 dusty acres. Even more surprising, the yurts are home to very special cats and dogs, a number of whom until recently had never felt the grass beneath their feet.
Date created: July 9, 2010
Last updated: April 24, 2024
In June, AWI staff members attended Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW), hosted by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in Washington, DC.
Date created: September 4, 2024
Last updated: September 13, 2024
AWI has been working with members of the House of Representatives and Senate to raise the profile of animal welfare issues and to secure members’ support for stand-alone animal welfare bills as well as for including animal welfare language in the
Date created: June 20, 2023
Last updated: June 26, 2023
Date created: August 30, 2023
Last updated: September 6, 2023
As the 111th Congress drew to a close, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) sought unanimous consent on a bill that would have delisted the gray wolf as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Date created: February 7, 2011
Last updated: January 10, 2020
The animal agriculture industry is responsible for an estimated 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. A significant portion of environmental degradation from animal agriculture can be attributed to factory farms, where waste—whether it is excrement, antibiotics, or fertilizer—is discharged at higher volumes.
Date created: June 1, 2015
Last updated: January 9, 2020
During a key stage of the fiscal year 2023 appropriations cycle, members of Congress consider spending requests from individuals and groups.
Date created: June 14, 2022
Last updated: June 24, 2022
Since 2014, AWI has supported the work of Dolphinaria-Free Europe (DFE), a coalition of European NGOs who work to help the approximately 300 whales, dolphins, and porpoises held for display and research in the European Union.
Date created: August 30, 2023
Last updated: September 6, 2023
In March, AWI submitted comments to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) urging the agency to ban the import of live African elephants and their trophies into the United States due to significant welfare concerns and a lack of conservation ben
Date created: June 20, 2023
Last updated: June 26, 2023
Local conservation and animal protection organizations rallied outside the Mexican Embassy today to call on the Mexican government to take drastic action to save the fewer than 30 vaquita porpoises left on the planet. Advocates demanded that the Mexican government rigorously enforce laws to protect the rapidly disappearing species.
Date created: July 6, 2017
Last updated: February 2, 2022
Conservation and animal protection organizations rallied outside the Mexican Embassy today to call on the Mexican government to take drastic action to save the fewer than 30 vaquita porpoises left on the planet. Advocates demanded that the Mexican government rigorously enforce laws to protect the rapidly disappearing species.
Date created: July 6, 2018
Last updated: February 7, 2022
In mid-December, the advocacy group, WildEarth Guardians, settled a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to obtain reports related to the aerial killing of wildlife.
Date created: February 24, 2012
Last updated: April 24, 2024
The National Marine Fisheries Service announced today that the highly imperiled Atlantic humpback dolphin will be protected under the US Endangered Species Act.
Date created: February 20, 2024
Last updated: February 20, 2024
Though several morphological differences exist between African savannah elephants and forest elephants, it has been a challenge to conclusively determine the genetic relationship between them. Up until now they have been classified as subspecies (Loxodonta africana and Loxodonta cyclotis).
Date created: February 7, 2011
Last updated: January 10, 2020
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends the US House of Representatives for passing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (H.R. 1754) today.
Date created: September 29, 2020
Last updated: January 18, 2024
Against a backdrop of picturesque mountains, past coils of razor wire, once-wild horses stand in the frozen dirt of the Cañon City Off-Range Corral.
Date created: April 8, 2024
Last updated: June 4, 2024
In the wake of Netflix docuseries “Tiger King” and heightened public attention to the exploitation of captive big cats, 53 bipartisan members of Congress sent a letter yesterday to the US Department of Agriculture calling for stronger enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
Date created: April 28, 2020
Last updated: January 18, 2024
The House appropriations committee and the full Senate have approved spending bills for the US Department of Agriculture, and both include important provisions for animal welfare.
Date created: December 15, 2023
Last updated: December 22, 2023
