Laws and Other Measures

Big Cat Public Safety Act

The Big Cat Public Safety Act is an urgently needed solution to the problem of big cats kept as pets in unsafe and abusive circumstances. Wild animals imprisoned in basements or backyards not only suffer...

Animal Welfare Act

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was the first federal law in the US regulating animals in research . The AWA applies to animal carriers, handlers, dealers, breeders, and exhibitors in addition to research laboratories, and...

Endangered Species Act

On October 15, the Endangered Species Preservation Act (P.L. 89-669) is signed into law. The Act provides for the listing of native threatened and endangered species by the Secretary of the Interior ( additional protection...

Humane Methods of Slaughter Act

The federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (P.L. 85-765) is signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 27. The Act requires all meat companies selling to the US government to provide stunning...

Marine Mammal Protection Act

The US delegation to the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment proposes a moratorium on commercial whaling, based on the adoption of the 1971 resolutions; it passes with no opposition.

Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act

Any member of a household can become a victim of domestic violence: spouses or partners, children, elderly relatives, even companion animals. In fact, fear of what might happen to their pets keeps many human victims...

Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act

The federal law prohibiting the creation and distribution of “crush videos” does not cover the underlying acts of animal abuse, which can occur beyond the reach of state cruelty laws. The PACT Act closes that...

Shark Conservation Act

The Shark Conservation Act (P.L. 111-348) was introduced in January 2009 by Representative Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) in the House of Representatives and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) in the Senate in April 2009. The long-awaited bill...

Wild Horse Measures

On September 8, the Wild Horse Annie Act (P.L. 86-234), having been approved by the US Congress unanimously, is signed into law. The Act prohibits the poisoning of wild horse and burro waterholes, as well...

Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act

On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2013 (H.R. 4310), which authorizes the Secretaries of the various military services to transfer back to Lackland Air Force Base...

Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act

Crush videos are recordings which typically depict women in stilettos or bare feet literally crushing, stomping on, or impaling small, helpless animals to satisfy the bizarre sexual fetishes of sadistic viewers. The Animal Welfare Institute...

Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act

On February 7, 2014, President Obama signed H.R. 2642, the Agricultural Act of 2014 into law. The Farm Bill, as it is more commonly known, included language from H.R. 366 and S. 666, the Animal...