AWI Quarterly Term Archive

Quick Read

Ending Engagement in Cruel Ejiao Trade

Equines

In October, Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) reintroduced the Ejiao Act (HR 6021) to protect donkeys from a burgeoning global trade that has claimed millions of these animals’ lives and resulted in terrible...

Horseshoe Crabs May See Relief from Toxin Testing

Animals in Laboratories

Hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs are used for endotoxin testing in the United States each year, bled for their blood’s ability to clot in the presence of toxins. An...

Throttling Speed Limits in Right Whale Waters

Marine Wildlife

Scientists recently shared a small bit of positive news that the remaining number of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales (NARW) may be slightly higher than previously believed. The 2021...

Investigation Uncovers Disturbing Details of Neuralink Monkey Study

Animals in Laboratories

Elon Musk and his biotech company Neuralink made headlines recently as multiple news organizations reported on requests for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Musk’s claim that monkeys who...

Weaken or Widen ESA Protections? Congress Weighs In

Marine Wildlife, Terrestrial Wildlife

The Endangered Species Act continues to face attacks in Congress. There are bills to prohibit the listing of species not native to the United States, to allow the government to...

Public Supports Egg-Check Tech to Prevent Chick Culling

Farmed Animals

A recent, first-of-its-kind survey of more than 1,000 US egg consumers showed a high level of interest in a new technology called “in-ovo sexing” that can determine the sex of...

Study Highlights Lack of Protections for Farmed Fish

Farmed Animals, Marine Wildlife

A recent study published in Cambridge University’s Animal Welfarejournal (Mood et al., 2023) estimates the number of farmed fishes slaughtered for food in global aquaculture from 1990 to 2019. The study...

Supreme Court Declines to Review North Carolina Ag-Gag Law

Farmed Animals

In October, the US Supreme Court denied a petition to review the Fourth Circuit ruling that struck down portions of the Property Protection Act—North Carolina’s latest ag-gag law—on the grounds...

USDA Establishes Animal Welfare Standards for Organic Program

Farmed Animals

In November, the US Department of Agriculture published a final rule establishing animal welfare standards for the millions of animals raised on organic farms. The Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards...

Biodiversity Declines Worse than Previously Thought

Terrestrial Wildlife

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is a valuable database containing information on species status, population trends, and threats. While it has its...