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Animal Welfare Institute
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Latest News
AWI Statement: Florida’s Exemption from Offshore Drilling Still Leaves Marine Life Vulnerable
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
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 drilling...
Lawsuit Seeks to Uncover Why Government Is Allowing SeaWorld to Hide Orca Necropsies
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
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...
AWI Statement: Offshore Drilling Proposal Would Jeopardize Marine Life
Friday, January 05, 2018
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 drilling...
Lawsuit Targets Trump Administration's Failure to Act to Save Vanishing Porpoises
Thursday, December 21, 2017
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 endangered...
New Report Highlights Valuable Ecological Services Provided by Whales
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
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, conducted during the July 2017...
Over 82,000 Say “No” to Slaughtering Chickens Even Faster
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
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 lines in poultry...
Lawsuit Targets Fire Island National Seashore Park’s Lethal Deer Management Plan
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
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, by implementing...
Japan Receives Pass for Illegal Whale Meat Trade at CITES Standing Committee Meeting
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
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 from...
Legal Notice Pushes US to Embargo Mexican Seafood Caught with Vaquita Porpoise-Killing Nets
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
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.
AWI Urges Trump, Zinke to Permanently Restore Ban on African Elephant Trophy Imports
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
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...
AWI Statement: Extraordinary Reversal Protects Elephants, For Now
Monday, November 20, 2017
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.
AWI Statement: Under Guise of Conservation, USFWS Further Threatens African Elephants
Friday, November 17, 2017
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...
Miranda Cosgrove Joins Science, Business Leaders in Washington to Defend Marine Mammal Protection Act
Thursday, November 16, 2017
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...
New Report Exposes Pattern of Animal Mistreatment in Some US Poultry Plants
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
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...
AWI Statement: Vaquita CPR Program Needs to End
Monday, November 06, 2017
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...
This #GivingTuesday, Help AWI’s #PlaneCampaign Take Flight!
Thursday, November 02, 2017
Giving Tuesday, celebrated annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media. For many, Giving Tuesday (on November 28 this year) marks the start of...
California Wildlife Win Protections from Federal Trapping, Gunning
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
In response to a lawsuit filed by wildlife advocacy groups, a San Francisco federal court today approved a settlement requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services to implement numerous protections for wildlife in Northern...
Organizations Seek Details of Dolphin's Death at Arizona's Dolphinaris
Friday, October 27, 2017
Animal Defense League of Arizona, the Animal Welfare Institute, and Plea for the Sea have learned of the death of Bodie, a young dolphin at Dolphinaris Arizona. The seven-year-old bottlenose dolphin reportedly died in September...
Leading Animal Protection Groups Urge USDA to Stop Practice That Keeps Animal Abusers in Business
Monday, October 16, 2017
The Animal Welfare Institute, the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF) are calling on the US...
Animal Welfare Institute Announces 2017 Christine Stevens Wildlife Award Winners
Thursday, October 12, 2017
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced today the 2017 winners of its Christine Stevens Wildlife Award. Established in 2006, the Christine Stevens Wildlife Award provides grants of up to $10,000 to help fund studies on...