September marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a revolutionary exposé on the calamitous effect of unleashing DDT and other pesticides indiscriminately on the environment.
Around the world, intensive commercial fishing operations are driving many marine fish stocks to the brink of collapse.
Fifty-four members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter today to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, urging the United States to vocally and strongly support the highest level of protections for African elephants at the upcoming triennial Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
AWI’s Dr. Naomi Rose visited China in January on behalf of the China Cetacean Alliance, of which AWI is a founding member, to observe the orcas living in Chinese facilities.
It took three tries for the pilot to land in Barrow, Alaska in the heavy fog. To the native Iñupiat, Barrow is known as Ukpeaġvik (or Utqiaġvik), which means "place to hunt snowy owls." I came to the top of the world to learn about Iñupiat culture, bowhead whales, and to strengthen the bridge between the Animal Welfare Institute and native Alaskan whalers.
The Global Legal Research Center of the Law Library of Congress released Laws on Leg-Hold Traps Around the World in August, a report that identifies countries that prohibit the use of steel-jaw leghold traps.
In a rare victory for endangered species, the House adopted a floor amendment to the FY 2012 Interior appropriations bill offered by Reps. Norm Dicks (D-WA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) that strips the bill of language that would have eviscerated a core function of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
A new global online marketplace that allows researchers to sell unused animal samples to other labs is being launched. Called aRukon, the free platform was created by biomedical researcher Dr.
Ontario has become the first province in Canada to ban the breeding, purchase and sale of orcas. The new law, titled the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, passed the legislature at the end of May. It also requires qualified veterinarians with marine mammal expertise to oversee preventive and clinical care at any facility that has marine mammals.
Opening Doors: Carole Noon and Her Dream to Save the Chimps begins with a journey. In 2001, 10 chimpanzees are being cajoled into traveling cages within a trailer truck, bound for a new and decidedly unknown world.
A highly coordinated international operation targeting the illegal trade in reptiles has resulted in the largest reptile bust to date.
Rabies is a zoonotic disease caused by a deadly virus that attacks the central nervous system of mammals. The disease is usually transmitted by a bite from an infected animal.
Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) reintroduced the Orca Responsibility and Care Advancement (ORCA) Act (HR 1584), in March 2017.
A critically endangered population of orcas, numbering only 40 individuals, inhabits the outer coastal waters of the Iberian Peninsula. Since spring 2020, these whales have been dramatically interacting with boats—mostly sailing yachts.
With a current population of only 74 whales—a 30-year population low—southern resident orcas (a.k.a. killer whales) are in crisis. Their primary prey, Chinook salmon, are endangered, and the whales are starving.
In 2010, Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld Orlando, killed Dawn Brancheau, his trainer for the previous six years. Since that tragic event, the campaign to end the captive display of cetaceans has gathered tremendous steam.
In 2009, police in Umatilla, Oregon, arrested a man for starving and neglecting dozens of animals. A jury convicted the man of 20 counts of second-degree animal abuse, but at his sentencing hearing the court merged the 20 counts into a single conviction.
This is a current listing of organizations and individuals opposed to the slaughter of American horses for human consumption. They support all local, state and federal legislative efforts to ban the practice in the U.S. including the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act and American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.
AWI has worked to improve animal welfare standards under the US Department of Agriculture’s Certified Organic label for over 15 years. In early 2017, our efforts helped lead the USDA to finalize a rule to improve the lives of millions of organically raised animals.