From the animal protection policy perspective, Joe Biden has made a very strong pick for his running mate in the 2020 presidential election. Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has an outstanding record of supporting animal protection, and her selection bodes well for our own efforts to secure a strong animal welfare platform from candidates for office at all levels. Among other things, she’s achieved a score of “100” every year on the Humane Scorecard since being elected to the U.S. Senate.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

We’ve never cared for the cheap, lurid television programming tied to Shark Week, preferring to join with other groups and media outlets in a celebration of this apex species found in all of the world’s oceans and even sometimes in rivers. Sharks are part of an incredibly diverse taxon, a cluster of nearly 500 related species in urgent need of our attention and energy. We must do all that we can to better protect these vitally important marine creatures, and there’s still time to make a difference. 

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

Today, on World Lion Day, we celebrate lions as an iconic wild cat species, and we recommit to our campaigns to halt their exploitation and destruction in the United States and abroad. We are giving it all we’ve got. 

In the wild, of course, this iconic species is among the most imperiled of all with as few as 20,000 left in range nations. 

With fewer than 400 individuals remaining on the planet, North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered. Originally decimated by commercial whalers, right whales began a slow recovery after passage of the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s. Now, sadly, they are once again on the decline as a result of human action—or inaction. Right whales move along the busy east coast of the United States and Canada, which places them quite literally in the path of danger.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The fundamental purpose of our marquee advocacy training event, Taking Action for Animals Online, occurring on September 19 and 20, is to support greater political and social engagement by those who care about animals. COVID-19 hasn’t changed a thing in that regard, and TAFA 2020 features one of the strongest speaker and topic rosters in years, with nearly two dozen exciting sessions.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The U.S. House today approved many key animal protection reforms, including measures designed to rein in horse soring, combat wildlife trafficking and help enforce animal cruelty laws, as part of Congress's annual appropriations process. Members also prohibited the use of federal funds for implementing cruel hunting practices on public lands in Alaska, and rejected an attempt to ensure the import of endangered elephant and lion trophies into the United States can continue.

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