More than 12 million animals, including frogs, cats, rats, fetal pigs, fish and a variety of invertebrates are used for dissection in the US each year. At a time when numerous interactive and immersive alternatives are available, it’s ti
In order to assess the environmental enrichment value of a small swimming pool for captive juvenile rhesus macaques (Macaca. mulatta), observations of social and individual behaviours were made during baseline and experimental (pool) conditions.
Mice seem to have a stronger urge to build their own dwellings than rats. There are a number of commercial plastic shelters/houses/igloos available. Do mice actually sleep in these prefabricated, artificial homes?
A new study (LaFollette et al. 2020. Animals 10(8): 1435), supported by a grant from AWI, shows that implementation of a particular animal welfare-enhancing technique can be improved through targeted training.
Americans consume more than 5 billion pounds of seafood each year, 85 percent of which is imported. Although, historically, little information has been provided about the origin of this fish, American consumers are beginning to ask questions about the sustainability of the catch and demand that animal welfare issues be taken into account.
Random source dog and cat dealers, licensed "Class B" by the USDA, collect companion animals and sell them to research facilities. Many times, such animals are acquired via underhand means
A recent archeological discovery supports the notion that humans have considered dogs part of the family - in life and in death - for a very long time. The respectful manner in which a Husky-like dog was buried 7,000 years ago in Siberia strongly suggests he was valued not just as a useful animal to have around, but as a true member of the clan.
Dr. Clive Wynne, a canine behaviorist and founding director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University in Tempe is the author of Dog Is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You. As both a skeptic and a scientist (one more at ease with emotionless terms such as “exceptional gregariousness” and “hypersociability” than “love”), Wynne questioned whether dogs could have a strong love for people. But he is willing to investigate.
According to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), at least 647,400 raccoons were killed during the 2018–19 trapping season throughout the United States. (The data do not include statistics from 12 states, however, including Tennessee.) The vast majority were likely captured with conventional leghold traps, which are notoriously cruel—causing severe lacerations, broken bones, tendon and ligament injuries, and digit and limb amputations. Many of the others were likely captured in dog-proof traps, intended primarily to capture raccoons. Trapping raccoons with such devices is particularly cruel given their hypersensitive front paws.
For the first time in a decade, a new captive dolphin attraction has been built in the United States from the ground up, this time in Arizona. Dolphinaris, where customers pay to swim with dolphins, opened its doors on October 15.
For several years, AWI has opposed a project to divert fresh sediment-rich river water into Barataria Bay in an effort to restore Mississippi River Delta land lost to erosion.
On January 17, hundreds of bottlenose dolphins were herded to shore in Taiji, Japan—one of many dolphin drives that take place there during dolphin hunting season, which generally runs from September through March.
Domestic trade in live animals and the products made from them threatens many species with extinction. In a classic pattern, wildlife (and plants) are captured or extracted from their natural environments until they become rare. This rarity adds to their value, and in many cases, such as exotic cage birds, live reptiles, and amphibians, the rarer they become, the more they are sought after, increasing their value.
Donkeys are valued and trusted companions. As working animals, they are essential to many livelihoods. Around the globe, however, donkeys are being killed in unprecedented numbers.
A powerful symbol of the horse slaughter industry—and of the hopes some have of resurrecting it—crumbled in April with the demolition of the former Dallas Crown plant in Kaufman, Texas.
Stefan Austermühle, German biologist and executive director of Peruvian NGO Mundo Azul (Blue World), wrote in the fall 2003 edition of the AWI Quarterly of his organization’s battle against illegal dolphins hunts for human consumption in that country’s waters.
In March, a judge in the US District Court, Western District of New York, dismissed a lawsuit brought by AWI and six other animal advocacy organizations to protect the welfare of nonambulatory disabled (NAD) pigs (also known as “downed” pigs).
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by the meat industry challenging California’s downed animal law (California Penal Code § 599f).
Today, Dr. Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, joined with many of the world’s leading animal protection and conservation organizations to urge the 88 member countries of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to adopt a new 50-Year Vision to save whales, dolphins, and porpoises from extinction in the face of increasing ocean threats.
