Press Releases

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced today the winners of its annual Christine Stevens Wildlife Award. Established in 2006, the Christine Stevens Wildlife Award provides grants of up to $10,000 to help fund innovative strategies...

The US Department of Agriculture’s case against Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. (SCBT), one of the world’s largest research antibody suppliers, is scheduled to be heard by an administrative law judge beginning Tuesday, August 18. The...

Wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations filed a lawsuit today against the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for allowing trappers in Maine to seriously injure and kill Canada lynx, a federally protected cat. Plaintiffs...

In light of the tragic illegal killing of Cecil the lion by an American dentist, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends the swift response by Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)...

Animal protection and conservation organizations filed suit today challenging Mendocino County’s contract renewal with Wildlife Services, a notorious federal wildlife-killing program that killed close to 3 million animals in the US in 2014.

A coalition of environmental groups released today a new brief, “Convenience Kills,” detailing the whale meat sales of SPAR Norway—part of the international SPAR convenience store chain. The groups are calling on the company to...

Local conservationists rallied outside the Mexican Embassy today in support of the vaquita marina, the world’s smallest and most endangered porpoise, found only in Mexico’s Gulf of California. Participating organizations and individuals urged the Mexican...

In a great victory for animal welfare, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40) succeeded in including language in the manager’s amendment of the House Appropriations Committee’s Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture Bill to deny funds for the licensing...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) condemns today’s decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to suspend red wolf reintroductions pending additional review of the red wolf recovery program. USFWS intends to complete its...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) welcomes the reintroduction by Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Christopher Smith (R-NJ) of the Pet Safety and Protection Act (H.R. 2849). In order to protect companion animals from illegal sale...

Following the federally authorized gunshot death of a mother red wolf—a critically endangered species—in the Red Wolf Recovery Area of eastern North Carolina, conservation groups today demanded the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) ensure...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) applauds Representatives Martha McSally (R-AZ), Don Beyer (D-VA), Joe Heck (R-NV), and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) for introducing the Humane Cosmetics Act (H.R. 2858). This bipartisan bill would phase out the...

A coalition of international animal protection and conservation organizations has urgently asked the Obama administration to impose economic sanctions against Icelandic companies with corporate ties to the commercial whaling industry.

WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) have discovered that, in the latest desperate effort to prop up a dying industry, Hvalur hf, Iceland’s fin whaling company, has joined forces with...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders) filed a petition today with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the Northwest Atlantic population of the thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata), a species...

In a TEDx Talk released today entitled “Let’s Throw Shamu a Retirement Party!,” Animal Welfare Institute marine mammal scientist Dr. Naomi Rose advocates for the gradual phasing out of exhibits and shows featuring orcas, highlighting...

Although the World Heritage Committee designated Mexico’s “Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California” as a World Heritage property in 2005 in recognition of the area’s outstanding biodiversity, the vaquita and totoaba now...

Leading animal welfare and wildlife conservation organizations this week announced support for the reintroduction of the Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act (H.R. 2016/S. 1081) in both the US House of Representatives by Congresswoman Nita Lowey...

Federal lawmakers today introduced legislation to prevent the establishment of horse slaughter operations within the US, end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from consuming toxic horse meat.

A coalition of animal welfare and conservation groups has launched a new online ad campaign to coincide with the 2015 Seafood Exposition Global and Seafood Processing Global convention in Brussels this week, advising consumers and...