By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
One of our primary responsibilities as a leading voice for animals in the nation’s capital is to influence congressional deliberations concerning the annual budgets for federal agencies where animal welfare is in play. We’re off to an outstanding start for 2022! This week, the House Appropriations Committee approved a number of our priority requests in its Fiscal Year 2022 bills covering the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, State, Interior and other agencies.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Today, the United States Supreme Court declined to take the North American Meat Institute’s appeal of its lawsuit challenging Proposition 12, widely considered the world’s strongest law for farm animal protection.
USDA takes steps to rectify Trump-era position on farm animal welfare standards
USDA takes steps to rectify Trump-era position on farm animal welfare standards
June 18, 2021—Yesterday, the United States Department of Agriculture took the first step to rectify a decision made during the previous administration which negatively impacted farm animal welfare standards.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Animals are on a winning streak. Over just the last two days, we’ve had four terrific victories in U.S. federal courts that pave the way for progress for millions of animals. These include wildlife in the United States and overseas most often targeted by trophy hunters, animals in the fur industry, and farm animals confined in cruel cages on factory farms.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
A federal district court has cleared the way for our lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s irresponsible and dangerous plans for responding to outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, commonly known as the “bird flu.”
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Tom Vilsack’s confirmation hearing to be Secretary of Agriculture was today. If he is confirmed by the full Senate, it will mark the official launch of our 2021 animal welfare agenda with the agency he will lead for a second time. But for several months already, we’ve been advancing our priorities concerning the United States Department of Agriculture with President Biden’s transition team and members of Congress.
With our final 2020 Humane Scorecard now online, we invite you to check out how your federal legislators stood on a range of key issues. Please share this scorecard with family, friends, and fellow advocates and help spread the word!
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The Biden administration has withdrawn a deplorable pending rule that would have allowed qualifying chicken slaughter plants in the United States to permanently dial up line speeds from an already inhumane and lightning-fast 140 birds per minute to 175 birds per minute.