Press Releases

A decade after the documentary “Blackfish” examined the ethics and consequences of keeping orcas in captivity, marine theme parks and aquariums that feature cetaceans are struggling to remain relevant.

President Biden announced yesterday that he will not embargo products from Mexico despite its failure to halt the illegal wildlife trade threatening the critically endangered vaquita porpoise.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) applauds the New York legislature for recently passing a bill to ban wildlife killing contests.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has filed a complaint with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), raising significant issues about Baylor University’s mistreatment of rats in an undergraduate Learning & Behavior Lab course and the...

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) welcomes Iceland’s decision Monday to stop fin whale hunting until August 31, 2023.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and other animal protection organizations applaud today’s reintroduction in the US Senate of the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (S. 2037/H.R. 3475).

Today, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) petitioned the US Department of Agriculture to change its animal disease regulations to require that producers have in place audited emergency response plans, including strategies to humanely “depopulate” animals...

A bill reintroduced today by US Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Steve Cohen (D-TN), and US Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) seeks to ban the use of wildlife-killing M-44 devices, commonly known as “cyanide bombs,” on...

The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today that it will soon take steps to improve its label approval program for meat and poultry products to avoid misleading consumers.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) welcomes the reintroduction today of the Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act (AWEIA) by Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Nancy Mace (R-SC).

A controversial US-backed research study that aimed to capture whales in northern Norway and test how they would respond to ocean noise has resulted in the death of a minke whale, the Norwegian Defense Research...

US Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) has introduced legislation to phase out US mink farms within one year and establish a grant program to reimburse farmers for the full value of their operations.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced today that Mexico has failed to halt the illegal wildlife trade threatening the critically endangered vaquita porpoise, diminishing the effectiveness of an international wildlife treaty.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) commend US Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV), David Schweikert (R-AZ), and Steve Cohen (D-TN) for reintroducing today the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act...

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers has reintroduced the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act—federal legislation that would permanently protect American horses from commercial slaughter. This legislation would expand the Dog and Cat Meat Prohibition...

Today, a coalition of animal protection groups submitted a rulemaking petition to the US Department of Agriculture to require pig slaughter plants to install cameras inside gondola cages used in carbon dioxide stunning systems.

Today, a coalition of wild horse advocates, environmentalists, and academics filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Wyoming against the US Department of the Interior over a federal plan that would...

A report released today by conservation and animal protection groups finds that Ecuador’s fishing industry does not meet US standards for limiting whale and dolphin bycatch.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) endorses Friday's reintroduction in the US House of Representatives of the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act (H.R. 3090) to combat the inhumane practice of “soring,” whereby individuals intentionally inflict...

In a settlement filed in court Friday, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) agreed to determine whether Mexico has failed to stop illegal fishing and trade of totoaba that is driving the vaquita porpoise’s...