AWI Quarterly Term Archive
Quick Read
Humane Control of Gray Squirrels in the UK
Terrestrial WildlifeIn the United Kingdom, gray squirrels are an exotic species, first introduced in the 1870s. While the gray squirrel population has grown to an estimated 2.7 million, native red squirrels...
Cuttlefish Show Cognitive Complexity
Animals in Laboratories, Marine WildlifeIn a landmark new study, scientists have shown that cuttlefish are capable of delaying gratification, and that those who choose to delay longer are also more intelligent (Schnell et al.,...
Animal Welfare Measures in the 117th Congress
The 117th Congress got underway in January, and a number of AWI-supported animal welfare bills were reintroduced within the first few weeks. Among them are the Preventing Future Pandemics Act, which...
Letting Animals Control the Remote
Animals in LaboratoriesA common feature of captive environments is that they deprive individuals of agency—that is, they constrain individuals’ ability to make decisions and exercise control over their environment. Agency is recognized...
NOAA Proposes Rule to Curb Right Whale Deaths
Marine WildlifeAfter years of delay, NOAA Fisheries released a proposed rule in December 2020 to reduce the number of North Atlantic right whales killed by gear in northeast lobster and Jonah...
New System Allows Noninvasive Study of Freely Moving Macaques
Animals in LaboratoriesResearchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a motion-capture system that allows for the markerless 3D tracking of free-moving macaques (Bala et al., 2020). The new technology, called OpenMonkeyStudio,...
Zoonotic Disease Transmission Addressed in Stimulus Package
The American Rescue Plan Act, signed on March 11 in response to the COVID-19 crisis, contains funding to address public health risks resulting from the exploitation of animals. The law...
Anti-confinement Regulations Overdue in Massachusetts
Farmed AnimalsAt the start of 2021, animal protection organization Humane Farming Association (HFA) filed suit against the Massachusetts attorney general for failing to promulgate regulations mandated under the state’s Prevention of...
USDA Secretary Faces Lingering Farm Animal Welfare Issues
Farmed AnimalsThomas Vilsack has returned as secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, a post he held previously during the Obama administration. Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, spent the past four...
Utah Adopts Farm Animal Best Management Practices
Farmed AnimalsRecently, the Agricultural Advisory Board of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food adopted best management practices for the state’s animal agriculture industries. The new animal care standards, which will...