Animal Wellness Action Blog

Critical insights into issues at the intersection of animals and politics​

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Animal Wellness Action and its affiliates reacted with skepticism after learning that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, established by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act to implement and help enforce the legislation, said it will contract with Drug Free Sport International to execute drug testing in the sport. Animal advocates had … Read more

Oklahoma City – Rampant illegal cockfighting in Oklahoma threatens to make an outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) even more menacing, according to Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.  The major illegal cockfighting industry in Oklahoma may cause the spread of the disease across Oklahoma and even to foreign nations. AWA has … Read more

Wild horse frolic in open plain

Press Release Legislation would enable our American heroes with post-traumatic stress better protect wild horses on federal lands WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Reps. Lisa McClain, R-MI, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Maria Salazar, R-Fla. introduced the Veterans for Mustangs Act (VMA), that would amend the 1971 Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act to help … Read more

Press Release Today Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, and the Animal Wellness Foundation called on the Bureau of Land Management to suspend its wild horse and burro gather operations in the wake of a BLM announcement of an unexplained outbreak of infectious disease that has claimed the lives of at least … Read more

Guam Department of Agriculture Has Taken Also No Disciplinary Action Against Its Own Law Enforcement Officer Who Allegedly Staged Illegal Cockfights Washington, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action (AWA) has strongly criticized the Guam Department of Agriculture (GDOA) for issuing “hollow and totally adequate” animal import standards that will allow illegal shipments of fighting birds onto the … Read more

In 2019 and 2020, wildfires ignited large swaths of the Australian countryside. The conflagrations were devastating to humans, with significant loss of life and home. But the horrors for animals were even worse: a broad range of unique and iconic animals suffered, including dingoes, emus, platypuses, wombats, possums, long-footed potoroos, silver-headed antechinus, regent honeyeaters, and … Read more

white mink with pink paws standing up in cage

U.S. regulatory failures are a reminder that federal and state agencies are underplaying predictable risk of mink farms spawning new variants and throwing U.S. into crisis We don’t know much about SARS-CoV-2 variants that have emerged in China or Russia, chiefly because of state control by their authoritarian governments. But we do know a good bit … Read more

Animal Groups Call on Kentucky State Veterinarian and Board of Veterinary Examiners to Investigate Incident After News of Expired Medication Administered to Laoban Louisville, Ky. – Today, Animal Wellness Action, the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that led the charge to enact the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act signed into law in December 2020, in a letter today called on … Read more

Press Release Milton, Florida – A public outcry over the intentional shooting of a defenseless donkey has sparked national outrage from animal advocates. The shooter identified by a witness as Phillip Hayes, was contracted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department to capture an escaped donkey on the loose this week. Hayes, a member of the … Read more

The scale of the violence and crime is startling to fathom. In Mexico, gang leaders got inside an arena in March, sealed off exit routes, and shot and killed 20 people attending a cockfighting in Michoacán state. Three of the dead were Americans, including a mother of four from Illinois and, according to the Michoacán … Read more