Press Releases

Responding to a lawsuit filed by conservation groups, the US Court of International Trade today ordered the Trump administration to ban seafood imports from Mexico caught with gillnets that kill the critically endangered vaquita porpoise...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) applauds the members of Congress who successfully worked to remove anti-wildlife riders from the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The version of this bill that passed the...

Responding to legal pressure from a coalition of animal protection and conservation groups, Shasta County officials have announced that the county will suspend its contract with the notorious federal wildlife-killing program known as Wildlife Services.

The Animal Welfare Institute strongly opposes three proposed rules released today by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that would undermine vital sections of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The rules impair protections for...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) takes exception to comments included in recent media reports characterizing hybrid whales as neither important nor protected under law. Although “Whale 22”—the whale killed last week by Icelandic whaling company...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) strongly opposes a package of nine bills, 8 of which were introduced today by a coalition of Republican representatives, that would collectively demolish key aspects of the Endangered Species Act...

Conservation and animal protection organizations rallied outside the Mexican Embassy today to call on the Mexican government to take drastic action to save the fewer than 30 vaquita porpoises left on the planet. Advocates demanded...

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 damaging...

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 of...

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 red wolf...

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 Mammal...

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 protecting...

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.

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.

During this session of Congress, numerous measures have been introduced to modify Department of Transportation (DOT) commercial truck driver requirements.

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 Kevin...

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 by...

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 Norwegian...

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 Big...

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 slaughter...