AWI Quarterly Articles | Government/Legal

A coalition of 114 representatives and 48 senators recently urged Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to finalize a Horse Protection Act (HPA) rule that would significantly curb the pernicious practice of “soring,” which involves the deliberate...

The Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act (AWEIA; HR 3277), introduced May 17 by Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), would end US Department of Agriculture licensing practices that allow chronic violators of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA)...

The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (HR 2811), a bill that would prohibit the sale of shark fins, was reintroduced in the House of Representatives this past Earth Day with 104 members signing on as...

Once again, we are forced to highlight the abysmal state of enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Horse Protection Act (HPA) in recent years. As made plain by the graphs on this...

The Horse Protection Act (HPA) was enacted in 1970 to clamp down on the scourge of “soring”—the term for a host of abusive practices inflicted upon Tennessee walking horses and related breeds to produce an...

After years of delay, NOAA Fisheries released a proposed rule in December 2020 to reduce the number of North Atlantic right whales killed by gear in northeast lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. More than 900,000...

The American Rescue Plan Act, signed on March 11 in response to the COVID-19 crisis, contains funding to address public health risks resulting from the exploitation of animals. The law allocates $300 million to the...

The 117 th Congress got underway in January, and a number of AWI-supported animal welfare bills were reintroduced within the first few weeks. Among them are the Preventing Future Pandemics Act, which would prohibit the...

The lights were just about to be turned out on 2020 when Congress finally wrapped up its spending bill for the 2021 fiscal year, which had begun on October 1. Thanks to the hard work...

The president and the executive branch hold enormous sway in setting US wildlife policy—from signing (or vetoing) wildlife-related legislation, to issuing orders and regulations that enhance (or remove) protections for wildlife and habitat, to nominating...