Press Releases

Washington, DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is deeply troubled that the US House of Representatives voted yesterday to pass H.R. 2083, the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act. This legislation would amend the...

Washington, DC —From nursing orphan rhino calves in South Africa to helping to preserve endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest, the winners of the 2018 A Voice for Animals contest show they not only care...

Reykjavic, Iceland —Conservation and animal protection organizations are horrified at the slaughter today of an endangered fin whale by Icelandic whaling company Hvalur hf in defiance of the international ban on commercial whaling. The hunt...

Washington, DC — Americans overwhelmingly support comprehensive protections for marine mammals, according to a new poll commissioned by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), Oceana and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Despite that public endorsement, the...

Washington, DC — During this session of Congress, numerous measures have been introduced to modify Department of Transportation (DOT) commercial truck driver requirements. The proposed changes include expanding the number of hours truckers are legally...

Washington, DC —Six months after the Senate unanimously adopted the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, the bill remains stalled in the US House of Representatives. In a letter issued today to House Majority...

Washington, DC —A new photo exhibit on Capitol Hill examines how a US-Mexico border wall could cause irreversible damage to human communities and wildlife. The exhibit, running through June 15 in the Russell Rotunda, features...

Washington, DC —As Norway’s fisheries minister, Per Sandberg, travels around New York June 7-8 to promote Norwegian seafood, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) urges the city’s retailers, consumers and restaurateurs to question the source of...

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

Washington, DC —The US House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees have finalized their respective agriculture funding bills for fiscal year 2019. Only the Senate bill, in its present form, includes essential language preventing the...

Washington, DC —In a letter sent Tuesday to Florida state, county and school officials, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is calling for a full investigation into the alleged drowning of multiple animals last week in...

The Animal Welfare Institute is grateful that a massive farm bill loaded with provisions that would have reversed gains in animal welfare and weakened endangered species protections was defeated Friday in the US House of...

Washington, DC—The 2019 Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, passed late Tuesday by a House subcommittee, includes several anti-wildlife provisions that raise grave concerns for the Animal Welfare Institute. “These attacks...

Today we learned the extent to which certain members of the US House of Representatives are willing to sacrifice animal welfare and conservation in the name of industry interests. The Farm Bill (H.R. 2, the...

Washington, DC —The National Marine Fisheries Service today protected rare Taiwanese humpback dolphins, listing the species as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. The decision comes in response to a March 2016 petition from the...

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam) and Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) today introduced the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018, which is endorsed by the Animal Welfare Institute and other leading animal welfare and conservation...

Brussels, Belgium —A new poll commissioned by members of the Make Stewardship Count coalition indicates that the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) could face a significant erosion of consumer confidence as a result of the certification...

Brussels, Belgium—The Don’t Buy From Icelandic Whalers campaign, an alliance of 14 conservation and animal protection groups, has reacted with dismay to the news that Icelandic whaling company Hvalur will resume fin whaling and with...

Washington, DC —The House Agriculture Committee yesterday reported out its version of the 2018 farm bill (H.R. 2), legislation Congress must pass this year to reauthorize a variety of programs on which the agriculture sector...

Washington, DC —A mammoth 640-plus-page farm bill draft (H.R. 2) was released yesterday and is scheduled for committee action next week. According to the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), the draft represents a mixed bag...