Animal Welfare Institute

Thank you, Congresswoman Dina Titus, Congressman Juan Ciscomani, and Congressman Steve Cohen, for working to protect wild horses! Their amendment to the FY25 House Interior Appropriations bill, which directs the Bureau of Land Management to devote funding to managing mustangs with humane fertility control, passed the full House by voice vote yesterday—signaling strong bipartisan support among lawmakers. Rep. Titus spoke on the floor about the brutal roundups that rob these federally protected animals of their homes and routinely lead to injuries and deaths. Learn more about the fate of wild horses in captivity under BLM management: https://lnkd.in/emcruEsz

Today, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee renewed its call for urgent action to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise in Mexico, agreeing to retain the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California World Heritage site—the vaquita’s only home—on its List of World Heritage in Danger to call attention to the continuing crisis and spur corrective action. The committee also approved a suite of corrective measures for Mexico to implement to safeguard the species. The vaquita population has declined drastically, falling from nearly 600 in 1997 to fewer than 10 in 2024 because of entanglement in gillnets used for illegal fishing of totoaba and other species. “Mexico has failed the vaquita and totoaba by its inability to enforce its own fishing laws, allowing cartel-driven trade in totoaba swim bladders to flourish and putting the vaquita on the precipice of extinction. We welcome today’s decision by the World Heritage Committee and strongly encourage Mexico to urgently implement all efforts to save the vaquita.” – DJ Schubert, AWI senior wildlife biologist https://lnkd.in/e_Rc3FUr

This week, the US House of Representatives will vote on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, a bill that attempts to undermine species recovery by making decisions based on politics over science. If this bill passes Congress, the Department of the Interior’s budget would be slashed by 74% to $14.7 billion. Within this total, the US Fish and Wildlife Service budget would be reduced by $144 million to $1.3 billion, including a 20% cut in funding to list new species under the Endangered Species Act. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eP5sbDcY

“I’m very sympathetic to the mariners, but it doesn’t justify doing something that’s not only dangerous to the animals—it’s illegal.” Thank you, Marine Conservation Happy Hour, for having Dr. Naomi Rose, AWI senior scientist in marine mammal biology, on the podcast to discuss the orcas ramming boats along the Iberian Peninsula and neighboring waters. Changing the narrative surrounding these interactions is imperative to help protect this critically endangered population and ensure the orcas are not punished for actions that appear to be social play behavior, not acts of aggression. https://lnkd.in/eanCWJFh

More than 10 billion farmed animals are bred, raised, and killed for food in the United States each year. However, on-farm protections for animals (excepting those raised to meet federal organic standards) are limited to a patchwork of laws enacted in 18 states. AWI has just released the second edition of “Enforcement of State Farmed Animal Welfare Laws”—a comprehensive review of enforcement records pertaining to state-level on-farm protections for farmed animals. We found these laws to vary significantly in form of protection and species protected—as well as in the various states’ commitment to their enforcement and to public transparency with respect to enforcement activities. This post highlights a few key takeaways. To read the full report, visit https://lnkd.in/ehH6vF_5. 

In honor of #WorldOrcaDay, let’s dive into how AWI is working to protect a critically endangered orca population around the Iberian Peninsula. This population—numbering only about 40 individuals—has made waves in the media due to their interactions with boats. About 15 of these orcas have engaged in these interactions over the past five boating seasons. During this time, the media has pushed—and the public has entertained—the harmful and inaccurate narrative that the orcas are seeking revenge for past trauma inflicted by humans. In May, the Spanish government published a report resulting from an international workshop attended by experts—including Dr. Naomi Rose, AWI’s marine mammal biology senior scientist—challenging this narrative and explaining that the orcas’ behavior is most likely play. Changing the narrative is imperative to help protect this critically endangered population and ensure the orcas are not punished for their social behavior. Learn more by reading Naomi’s op-ed in FairPlanet: https://lnkd.in/eqZz4rhh 📷: Plie Do

In movies and on TV, sharks are often portrayed as fearsome predators of humans, but in reality, humans pose a much bigger threat to sharks: In 2023, 69 unprovoked shark bites occurred, while each year, an estimated 100 million-plus sharks die at the hands of humans. Additionally, according to NOAA Fisheries, only about a dozen of the over 300 shark species are dangerous to humans, yet many more shark species are endangered because of human activities—particularly the cruel and relentless shark fin trade. Sharks mature slowly, have very few offspring, and are highly migratory, making them more vulnerable to extinction. AWI is working to protect sharks, and the countless species that rely on them, by raising awareness of the threats they face, working to curb commercial fishery bycatch, and tracking restaurants that still offer shark fin soup. PPK created this poster to help raise awareness of the shark fin trade. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eMaWB8JV #SharkWeek

Good news! This week, Hawai`i governor Josh Green signed an AWI priority bill into law that closes a loophole in the state’s cruelty statute that allowed any person (or unlicensed vet) to perform surgery on a pet, including ear cropping and tail docking. Non-vets lack the skills, training, and equipment to perform such surgeries carefully and in a way that ensures the health and well-being of the animal. AWI submitted testimony in support of this legislation and we are thrilled to see it signed into law.

On film, sharks are often portrayed as extremely dangerous to humans. In reality, the opposite is true. Largely because of human activities, more than 35% of known shark species are threatened with extinction, and scientists expect this number to increase in coming years. Threats to sharks include overfishing, habitat and prey loss, entanglement in commercial gillnets set for other species, and the brutal and relentless shark fin trade—for which sharks’ fins are often cut off while they’re still alive. The loss of sharks has consequences for marine ecosystems across the globe. AWI is working to protect sharks, and the countless species that rely on them, by raising awareness of the threats they face, working to curb commercial fishery bycatch, and tracking restaurants that still offer shark fin soup. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eHi9SbSx In 2022, Congress passed, and President Biden signed, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, an AWI priority bill that prohibits the commercial trade of shark fins and products containing shark fins in the US. AWI looks forward to NOAA Fisheries’s implementation of this law. A healthy ocean requires healthy shark populations. Take action in support of sharks by avoiding products containing shark liver oil (squalene) or chondroitin derived from shark cartilage, reducing your seafood consumption, and learning about the threats sharks face. #SharkWeek

Congratulations to the nine recipients of the 2024 AWI Christine Stevens Wildlife Award, who are developing innovative, less intrusive wildlife study techniques and more humane methods of resolving conflicts between wild animals and humans. Established in 2006, the award provides individual grants of up to $15,000 and is named in honor of AWI’s late founder and longtime president, who dedicated her life to reducing animal suffering both here and abroad. https://lnkd.in/eaAfeUMC