Sharks and Barks: Texas Two-Step for Animals
Two bills recently signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott mean good news for animals. HB 1579 prohibits buying and selling shark fins in the state, and makes Texas the 10th state to institute such a...
Please see the below articles about Government/Legal from past editions of the AWI Quarterly.
North Carolina Legislature Approves Ag-Gag Law
The North Carolina legislature really doesn’t care to know about animal abuse on farms. In May, it sent an ag-gag measure (HB 405) to Governor McCrory for his signature, but at the urging of thousands...
Sen. Booker Introduces Bill to Ban Body-Gripping Traps in National Wildlife Refuges
“That’s a wake-up call.” These words were uttered by the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), after hearing about the numerous animals killed by horrific body-gripping traps.
APHIS Strategic Plan Strays from Strong Enforcement of Animal Welfare Act
In December 2014, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit that was highly critical of the department’s enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (as described in the Winter...
MARC Continues to Feel the Heat
As reported in the Winter 2015 Quarterly , USDA’s Meat Animal Research Center (MARC), in Clay Center, Nebraska, has come under intense scrutiny after a January 19 article in The New York Times described indefensible...
AWI Presses for Animal-Friendly Appropriations
The appropriations process offers an opportunity to press for policies that can be implemented by providing or withholding funds for agency activities. On this front, AWI has been working to ensure that any funding increase...
Politics Plays Role in USFWS Northern Long-Eared Bat Decision
A number of bills have been introduced in the 114th Congress that would undermine animal welfare; many of them take aim directly at endangered species (such as wolves), or at the Endangered Species Act itself...
AWARE Act Seeks to Protect Farm Animals at Federal Research Sites
Responding swiftly to the New York Times exposé of cruel experiments involving farm animals at the US Department of Agriculture’s Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) in Nebraska, members of Congress introduced bills to provide protection...
California Mandates More Space in the Cage for Egg-Laying Hens
Approximately 305 million egg-laying hens live in the United States at any given time. Between 90 and 95 percent of these birds are packed into tiny, barren wire cages that are stacked in rows, one...
AWI Sues California County over Wildlife Services Contract
In November, AWI and allies filed a lawsuit against Mendocino County, California, alleging that the county failed to conduct the legally-required environmental review of its contract with the USDA’s Wildlife Services program. The contract authorizes...