Press Releases

In a letter issued today to US House of Representatives Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) urged the Majority Leader to advance animal welfare legislation in the House.

Sixty-six marine conservation organizations, animal protection organizations, and leading academics recently issued a joint letter to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) chair Werner Kiene, criticizing the MSC for its failure to improve the label’s Principle 2...

Washington, DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and Mercy For Animals (MFA) condemn the USDA’s plan, released last week, to allow pig slaughterhouses to...

Washington, DC —The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends 38 members of Congress for signing on to a letter to Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke requesting that the Department of Interior (DOI) not establish a council...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) sent a letter to Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke today requesting that the Department of Interior (DOI) halt its plan to eliminate certain protections for migratory birds.

Washington, DC—Following bipartisan outcry from elected officials and concerned Florida residents, Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced Tuesday that Florida is no longer among the states that will be opened to oil and gas...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) filed a lawsuit this week against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) related to the agencies’ refusal to enforce requirements for SeaWorld Parks...

Washington, DC—The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) joins the growing number of citizens and elected officials from both parties in staunch opposition to the US Department of the Interior’s proposed plan to open and expand offshore...

Washington— Conservation groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration today for failing to respond to their emergency request to ban certain seafood imports from Mexico’s Gulf of California in order to save the critically...

Washington, DC — A new report , released to the public today, reveals the enormous ecological benefits that whales and other cetaceans provide to the environment. The report is the product of a workshop ,...

New York — A coalition of animal welfare, consumer safety, and worker rights organizations announced today that more than 82,000 concerned members of the public, workers and allies have raised their voices against faster slaughter...

Patchogue, NY —The Animal Welfare Institute and Wildlife Preserves, Inc. filed a lawsuit today against K. Christopher Soller, superintendent of Fire Island National Seashore (FINS), and the National Park Service (NPS). The complaint alleges that,...

Geneva —The Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) missed an opportunity this week to put an end to Japan’s massive domestic sales of meat...

Conservation groups filed a legal notice today pressing the US government to ban seafood caught from Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California in an effort to save the last remaining vaquita porpoises.

In a letter issued today to President Donald Trump and Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) president Cathy Liss applauded the President’s November 17 decision to halt the import of...

Washington, DC—Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke issued a statement late Friday night halting a notice in the Federal Register —published earlier that day—allowing the importation of sport-hunted elephant trophies into the United States. In...

The US Fish and Wildlife Service issued today a notice in the Federal Register allowing hunters to bring trophies of elephants killed in Zimbabwe back to the United States, reversing a ban put in place...

Actress and activist Miranda Cosgrove late yesterday joined approximately 50 science and business leaders from across the country in Washington, DC to urge members of Congress to defend the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) today released a new report describing the poultry industry’s level of compliance with humane handling regulations and guidelines. The report covers activities related to the treatment of chickens and turkeys...

A breeding-age female vaquita porpoise died on November 4, following her capture by the VaquitaCPR (Conservation, Protection and Recovery) program—which seeks to capture and temporarily relocate the remaining vaquita to an ocean pen in the...