AWI Quarterly Term Archive
Government/Legal
HHC Members Ascend Capitol Hill to Advance Equine Welfare
EquinesIn September, more than 100 representatives of equine rescue, sanctuary, and advocacy organizations from across the country met in Washington, DC, for the 2024 Homes for Horses Coalition (HHC) Conference....
Buyer Beware: USDA’s New Meat Label Guidelines Are a Raw Deal
Farmed AnimalsIn a much-anticipated move, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) released its updated Guideline on Substantiating Animal-Raising or Environment-Related Labeling Claims in late August. Last revised in...
FDA Foregoes Animal Welfare in Gene-Altering Guidance
Farmed AnimalsAWI recently submitted comments urging greater consideration of animal welfare in guidance documents issued by the Food and Drug Administration to developers of animals with intentional genomic alterations (IGAs). IGAs are changes...
Legislators Quell Cell-Cultivated Competition to Livestock
Farmed AnimalsIn May, Florida became the first US state to ban the sale and manufacture for sale of “cell-cultivated” meat (aka “lab-grown” meat; see AWI Quarterly, fall 2023). Shortly after, Alabama followed suit...
Octopus Farming’s Odious Outlook
Farmed Animals, Marine WildlifeThe unsustainability and cruelty involved in octopus farming prompted Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to introduce the Opposing the Cultivation and Trade of Octopus Produced through Unethical...
US Egg Producers to Curb Chick Culling
Farmed AnimalsFor the first time, several major US egg producers have committed to using a new technology called “in-ovo sexing” that can determine the sex of chicken embryos before they hatch....
Facing the Facts on Mexico’s Vaquita Protection Failures
Marine WildlifeIn September, AWI—on behalf of a coalition that includes the Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Environmental Investigation Agency—provided a “detailed submission” to the Commission on Environmental...
IWC69: International Whaling Commission Sails Past Stormy Waters and Solidifies Future
Marine WildlifeThe AWI team prepared for September’s 69th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC69) in Lima, Peru, with a sense of trepidation. IWC68, in 2022, ended in recriminations and uncertainty after...
Latest Mystic Aquarium Beluga Death Merits Further Investigation
Marine WildlifeThree of five beluga whales imported to Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium from Canada in 2021 have now died. In mid-September of this year, the aquarium was fined $12,200 by the US...
Lawmakers Urge Stronger Animal Protections
Farmed Animals, Marine Wildlife, Terrestrial WildlifeAWI rallied members of Congress to join letters to government agencies seeking greater animal protections. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) led a letter to the US...