Press Releases

Washington, DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) applauds Representatives Seth Moulton (D-MA) and John Rutherford (R-FL) for introducing the bipartisan Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered (SAVE) Right Whales Act. This legislation would provide sustained funding...

Washington, DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) condemns a proposed rule, announced today by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), to eliminate Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves across the contiguous United...

Washington, DC —Today, the Animal Welfare Institute, Big Cat Rescue, Born Free USA, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund and Performing Animal Welfare Society...

Washington, DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) strongly opposes Iceland’s decision Tuesday to establish a base whaling quota of 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales annually from 2019 to 2023. Due to this misguided...

Washington, DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has confirmed from contacts on the ground that the last four remaining bottlenose dolphins at Dolphinaris Arizona were transferred out of the facility late last night. It is...

Burns, OR —Wild horse advocacy groups are hailing an announcement Friday by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to officially abandon any plans to use mares rounded up from Oregon’s Warm Springs Herd Management Area...

Central Islip, NY —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and Wildlife Preserves, Inc. (WPI) filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction Friday against Kelly Fellner, acting superintendent of the Fire Island National Seashore (FINS),...

Washington, DC —Fires, floods and earthquakes can cause intense suffering and death to the millions of animals trapped in commercial and research facilities. Today, Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Peter King (R-NY) introduced the “Providing...

Update: Dolphinaris announced on Feb. 5 that it would temporarily close while an “outside" panel of veterinarians, pathologists, water quality experts and animal behavior specialists evaluates the dolphinarium following the death of a fourth dolphin...

Washington, DC —Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) and Congressman Don Young (R-AK) today introduced the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2019, which would strengthen the enforcement powers of federal agencies tasked with fighting poaching and...

Washington, DC —Federal lawmakers introduced legislation today to permanently ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the US and end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad. Introduced by Reps. Jan...

Washington, DC —On December 28, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, issued a written statement announcing the government’s decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in order “to resume commercial whaling” 1 within...

Washington, DC —More than 150,000 farm animals perished in potentially preventable barn fires in the United States in 2018, an Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) analysis of media reports to date has found. Of the 148...

Washington DC —With the president’s signature today, a new Farm Bill that includes major wins for animals has become law. This legislation, officially known as the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, includes a number of...

Washington, DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is gravely disappointed that President Donald Trump signed legislation yesterday to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and allow for the lethal removal of nearly 1,000 sea...

Washington, DC –As the Trump administration works to finalize a set of rules to weaken the Endangered Species Act, a new report released today lists 10 animals threatened by the administration’s existing and proposed policies....

Washington, DC —Today, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced the seven recipients of its Christine Stevens Wildlife Award who are developing innovative, less intrusive wildlife study techniques and more humane methods of resolving conflicts between...

Washington DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends the House-Senate conference committee for rejecting provisions that would have been harmful to animals in the final version of the Farm Bill, which was released last night,...

Washington, DC —The US Senate voted by unanimous consent last night to pass the Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act (S. 3119), legislation that amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in order to allow for...

Washington, DC —Today, the Council of the District of Columbia voted unanimously to pass the Healthy Students Amendment Act of 2018, which codifies into law the District’s implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP)....