AWI Quarterly Term Archive
Government/Legal
AWI and Allies Win Big Victory on Behalf of Marine Animals
Marine WildlifeA federal judge ruled on March 31 that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) acted illegally in approving US Navy testing and training activities that threaten widespread harm to marine...
APHIS Strategic Plan Strays from Strong Enforcement of Animal Welfare Act
In December 2014, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit that was highly critical of the department’s enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act...
AWI Presses for Animal-Friendly Appropriations
The appropriations process offers an opportunity to press for policies that can be implemented by providing or withholding funds for agency activities. On this front, AWI has been working to...
Politics Plays Role in USFWS Northern Long-Eared Bat Decision
Terrestrial WildlifeA number of bills have been introduced in the 114th Congress that would undermine animal welfare; many of them take aim directly at endangered species (such as wolves), or at the...
Animal Protection Caucus Leaders to Retire
Terrestrial WildlifeReps. Jim Moran (D-VA) and John Campbell (R-CA), co-chairs of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus and two of the strongest advocates in Congress for animal protection legislation, have announced plans...
Congress Reinstates Annual Ban on Horse Slaughter in the US
EquinesIn January, Congress approved a massive $1.1 trillion annual spending bill to fund the federal government that included language prohibiting USDA from spending funds to inspect horse slaughter facilities. The...
California Downer Ban Survives Challenge
Farmed AnimalsAfter an undercover investigation in 2008 showed heinous acts of animal cruelty toward nonambulatory or “downed” animals at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., California strengthened an existing law governing the...
California Egg Law Upheld by Federal Court
Farmed AnimalsA US District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Missouri’s Attorney General Chris Koster and joined by attorneys general from five other states that challenged a California law...
Oregon Supreme Court Recognizes that Animals Can Be Individual Crime Victims
Farmed AnimalsIn 2009, police in Umatilla, Oregon, arrested a man for starving and neglecting dozens of animals. A jury convicted the man of 20 counts of second-degree animal abuse, but at...
New Jersey, New York Pass Laws to Ban Trade in Ivory and Rhino Horns
Terrestrial WildlifeThis summer, New Jersey and New York, two states that represent key ports of entry into the United States for consumer goods (and wildlife trafficking), passed laws to help stem...