Press Releases

Washington, DC—The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is expressing vehement opposition to draft legislation, released yesterday by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), entitled the Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2018. According to AWI, this bill would impose...

Manama, Bahrain—Conservation and animal protection organizations are alarmed that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) today postponed an “in danger” listing for Mexico’s Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California World Heritage site—home...

Chapel Hill, NC—The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced a proposal today to confine red wolves to federal lands—including a bombing range—within Dare County, North Carolina. Carrying out such a plan would doom the...

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 Marine...

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 about...

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 is...

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 US House...

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 allowed to...

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 Leader...

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 images...

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 any...

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 of the...

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 commercial...

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 front...

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 Animal...

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 body’s...