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In September, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) reintroduced the Humane Transport of Farmed Animals Act (HR 5286)—bipartisan legislation to improve transport conditions for farmed animals in the United States. The bill would establish fitness for travel standards—mirroring those already in place for livestock exported abroad—to prevent animals who are sick, injured, disabled, or are otherwise in
In December, the House Natural Resources Committee voted to advance HR 4776, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act. Targeting the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), our country’s basic charter for protecting the environment, the SPEED Act would narrow the scope of federal actions that receive an environmental review, as well as limit
For more than half a century, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) has played a crucial role in safeguarding marine mammals from myriad threats—from entanglement in fishing gear to human-caused noise pollution—enabling many vulnerable populations to recover. Despite its success and long-standing bipartisan support, in late July, Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) released draft legislation that
The Ejiao Act (HR 5544), led by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), was reintroduced in September to protect donkeys from the inhumane trade in their hides. Donkey hides are boiled to produce a gelatin known as “ejiao” that is used in traditional Chinese medicines and added to supplements, aphrodisiacs, cosmetics, and food items. An estimated 5
A Wyoming man has been indicted by a grand jury on a state felony animal cruelty charge for torturing a young gray wolf. In February 2024, Cody Roberts allegedly ran the wolf over with a snowmobile, taped his mouth shut, paraded his listless body around a bar, and posed for photos—laughing and kissing his snout before
The recently concluded 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20), held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, resulted in significant victories for wildlife protection. Dozens of species were added to either CITES Appendix I (prohibiting most international trade for commercial purposes) or
In October, the Trump administration finalized plans to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development. Designated as a protected area in 1960 and expanded in 1980, ANWR is a region of stunning biodiversity that provides habitat for an estimated 700 species of animals and plants, including
The damaging interactions between orcas and yachts off the Iberian Peninsula in Europe continued in 2025, shifting for the first time in years back to the north (rather than concentrating around the Strait of Gibraltar). The first interactions were reported in 2020—for six seasons, almost half of the 40 or so orcas who live in
In October, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) convened in Australia. AWI is a member of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), an alliance of conservation organizations from around the world that works to protect the Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems from harmful human activities. As an observer to
Gulf World Marine Park, a dolphinarium in Panama City Beach, Florida, has closed after 55 years. It was purchased in 2015 by The Dolphin Company (TDC), which owns a string of dolphinariums in Mexico (where the company is based) and which, over the past decade, has expanded into the United States. TDC filed for bankruptcy
This past October, AWI representatives attended back-to-back annual meetings of the Ropeless Consortium and the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts. For four days, groups of scientists, policymakers, advocates, fishers, and educators gathered to discuss issues impacting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, including the feasibility of
This fall, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee on Animal Housing held a “First Draft Meeting” to launch the next revision cycle for NFPA 150, Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities Code—a model code that provides fire protection standards for a wide range of animal housing facilities, including commercial animal agriculture buildings.
In October, AWI assisted with a fly-in that brought over 200 farmers to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional offices in support of California’s Proposition 12, which sets minimum space requirements for egg-laying hens, breeding pigs, and veal calves while also prohibiting the in-state sale of eggs, pork, and veal that do not meet those
In a major victory for farmed animal welfare, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held in early October that Massachusetts’s Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act (aka “Question 3”) is constitutional and not preempted by federal law. The state law—enacted by ballot initiative in 2016 with the support of nearly 78 percent
As reported in the fall 2024 AWI Quarterly, AWI submitted comments to the Animal Welfare Committee of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) regarding its policy on pregnant sow housing. Dr. Gwendy Reyes-Illg, veterinary medicine consultant for AWI’s Farmed Animal Program, provided an extremely detailed, comprehensively researched rationale for why pregnant sows should be socially housed in appropriately designed
Every day, Washington, DC, residents grapple with a shortage of affordable housing, with nearly half considered “rent burdened”—meaning rent swallows more than 30 percent of their gross income. The additional costs associated with pet ownership can put affordable housing in the District out of reach, leaving many pet-owning renters facing the possibility of having to
In October, AWI’s Safe Havens for Pets initiative provided a $15,000 grant to Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA) of Washington, DC. The funds will support HRA’s Safe Haven Program, which aids domestic violence survivors who need shelter for their pets, and help HRA expand its services to provide sheltering resources for unhoused individuals with pets. Doing so
In November, AWI hosted an exhibit at the annual symposium of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science—the world’s largest gathering of personnel involved in the production, care, and use of animals in laboratories. We distributed hundreds of books related to improving the welfare of animals in laboratories and took orders for our newest book, Refinements
Ridglan Farms—one of two remaining US breeders of beagles for research—will cease its large-scale breeding-for-sale operations by July 2026, following grave allegations of animal neglect and cruelty (see AWI Quarterly, fall 2025). Ridglan entered into an agreement with the State of Wisconsin to relinquish its state breeding license in order to avoid criminal charges. Earlier this
As of October, National Institutes of Health grant recipients are allowed to allocate a portion of their funding to the rehoming and retirement of animals after their use in experimentation. This could provide second chances for animals who otherwise would have been killed after their time in research and testing came to an end. AWI