By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Last week, Ohioans showed up at the polls to defend a core tenet of democracy that is vitally important to the animal protection movement: the ballot measure. On Issue 1—the proposal to raise the threshold for amending the Constitution of the State of Ohio from 50% to a 60% supermajority—the no vote prevailed by a 57% to 43% margin, with more than three million votes cast.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
After Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, we responded to the British Virgin Islands where the storm had caused terrible devastation. Many people were forced to evacuate the island, but it was difficult to find transport for their animals. So, after providing the dogs required veterinary care, we flew these dogs, as well as unowned dogs, to the U.S. where they could be reunited with their owners or placed for adoption in cases where reunification wasn’t possible.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Enzo was just a tiny puppy when he was lifted into a carrier and placed in one of our animal rescue vehicles last July. He was being taken away from Envigo’s massive dog breeding facility in Virginia where he was born. Until that moment, he was likely destined for a life in an animal testing laboratory. Instead, Enzo was spared from that life, one that would have been rife with fear, loneliness and pain—and today he is enjoying all the things that every dog deserves: running in the grass, lounging on the sofa and playing with friends.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Responsibility for animals’ welfare rests with us all, including the federal government. Our work spans a range of federal agencies, all of which can do something to support the prevention of animal cruelty and suffering. A whole-of-government approach is consistent with the growth of our movement and its influence, and it’s something that will enable us to confront animal cruelty more effectively in the future.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
After a hard-fought campaign lasting over a decade, New Jersey has passed a law prohibiting the cruel confinement of mother pigs in gestation crates and baby calves in veal crates. Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill—which the state’s legislature passed earlier this month—on Wednesday, July 26, and it’s another milestone in our campaign to eliminate the cruel caging of farm animals.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Samantha was a little over a year old in 1976 when her world changed forever: The tiny chimpanzee was sold to a laboratory in Liberia by a resident of a nearby village. Like many of the other chimps at the lab, her parents had probably been killed by poachers so that Samantha could be sold. At the lab, researchers immediately began using Samantha in experiments.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Dogs and cats in Illinois laboratories will be saved from painful and outdated toxicity testing thanks to a first-of-its-kind law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday. Under the new law, it won’t be permissible to use dogs and cats in Illinois laboratories in toxicity testing—tests that attempt to determine how a substance, ingredient or drug may affect human health—unless the test is explicitly deemed necessary by a federal agency.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The Senate Committee on Appropriations acted on a raft of animal welfare measures late last week, building on the House committee’s earlier work and helping set the stage for positive results in the final package. In a few areas—specifically directing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to phase out cosmetics testing on animals, providing increased funding for the U.S.
