Animals on Factory Farms

Colorado Bill Would Phase Out Heatstroke as a Poultry Depopulation Method

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) welcomes yesterday’s introduction of the Modernizing Depopulation Act in the Colorado General Assembly. The bill would establish Colorado as the first state to phase out...

Illinois Bill Introduced to Protect Public Health from Disease Risks on Fur Farms

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) lauds today’s filing of the Finding Urgent Relief from Vectors for Infection Risk and Unchecked Spillover (FUR VIRUS) Act in Illinois, which would implement crucial...

NFPA Eyes Next Version of Animal Housing Fire Code

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...

Farmers Flock to DC to Defend Animal Welfare Laws

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...

Massachusetts Farmed Animal Protections Upheld

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...

AVMA Shifts Policy on Housing of Mother Pigs

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...

Act Now to Protect State Laws Benefiting Farmed Animals 

In response to a growing number of state laws requiring improved housing conditions for farmed animals, two controversial bills have been introduced in Congress: the Food Security and Farm Protection...

Tell the USDA to Stop Incentivizing Heatstroke to Kill Farmed Animals 

Since early 2022, more than 186 million chickens, turkeys, and other farmed birds have been “depopulated” (killed en masse and disposed of) due to detection on farms of highly pathogenic...

Barn Fire Statistics By Year

Anti-whistleblower (“Ag-Gag”) Legislation

Undercover investigations by animal advocates are a critical tool in exposing the cruel realities of factory farming. However, instead of passing laws to ensure farmed animals are protected from abuse...