AWI Quarterly Term Archive

Quick Read

California Downer Ban Survives Challenge

Farmed Animals

After 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...

Pachyderm Poachers Headed to Prison Under New Mozambique Law

Terrestrial Wildlife

One country may already be turning the table on traffickers. On June 20, Mozambique passed a law that mandates a prison term of 8 to 12 years for poaching of...

California Egg Law Upheld by Federal Court

Farmed Animals

A 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...

Political Climate: USFWS Shows Weak Will on Wolverines

Terrestrial Wildlife

On February 1, 2013, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced a proposal to list the North American wolverine as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)....

Nestlé and Unilever Announce New Commitments to Animal Welfare

Farmed Animals

Nestlé recently announced a commitment to farm animal welfare in an effort to “remove the worst [practices], promote the best and improve the rest.” Nestlé stated that it will “support...

South Africa to Sell Rhinos

Terrestrial Wildlife

South Africa's Kruger National Park is taking bids from private landowners for 500 of its white rhinos. Newspaper ads advise parties to "make a written offer to purchase white rhinos...

Oregon Supreme Court Recognizes that Animals Can Be Individual Crime Victims

Farmed Animals

In 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...

USFWS Hibernates on Bat Protection

Terrestrial Wildlife

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has postponed its decision on listing the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) until April 2015. The decision...

USDA Finalizes Poultry Slaughter Inspection Regulations

Farmed Animals

In the Winter 2014 AWI Quarterly, AWI reported that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had proposed changing the poultry slaughter regulations to allow poultry companies to accelerate their slaughter process by...

Wildlife Services Trapper Can’t Wriggle Out After Injuring Dog

Terrestrial Wildlife

A federal judge has ruled that an Arizona animal cruelty case, involving a former employee of USDA’s Wildlife Services who trapped and severely injured his neighbor's dog, can go forward....