Vote brings Congress to the brink of completing an overhaul of drug development Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2821, the FDA Modernization Act 3.0, taking one more legislative step toward ending the outdated practice of routine animal testing in drug development and accelerating the transition to modern methods grounded in human biology. … Read more
This is a public-private avian predator control to unlock cutting of old-growth forests This week, we are in federal court, challenging a startlingly incomplete and deficient U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan — dubbed the “Barred Owl Management Strategy” (BOMS) — to kill approximately 450,000 North American barred owls, purportedly to protect threatened northern spotted … Read more
It’s a close call, but lead is the only one that 60 million Americans are eating regularly If someone had it out for hunters and wanted to harm them and their families, that person might break into their homes and head for their gun cabinets. Wearing gloves to prevent leaving prints or DNA behind, they’d … Read more
LOUISVILLE — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy today issued the following statement in response to a deeply reported investigation by the Louisville Courier-Journal documenting the ongoing toll of lead poisoning on Kentucky’s bald eagles and other raptors. The article, “Inside the Mission to Save Kentucky’s Eagles from Lead Poisoning,” details a persistent and preventable … Read more
Millions of animals and millions of Americans — kids, pregnant women, and the needy — are at risk from an element known to be deadly, irreducible for 2,000 years Nobody should use bullets that keep killing long after being discharged from a firearm. But that’s exactly what happens when hunters load lead rounds into their … Read more
ANTIGO, WI — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy today announced a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the poacher responsible for shooting an American white pelican now in recovery at the Raptor Education Group, Inc. (REGI) in Antigo, Wisconsin. Earlier this month, REGI admitted a severely … Read more
More than 100 species are victims of plumbism, as are hunting families WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Lead Endangers Animals Daily (LEAD) Act, H.R. 6268, to direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to phase out lead ammunition and lead fishing tackle on the country’s 573 National Wildlife Refuges. … Read more
If we give up now, there’ll be no stopping the timber industry and federal bureaucrats from attacks on forest owls and old-growth forests Senate Democrats voted last week not only to kill a half a million North American barred owls, but also to give Trump’s Department of the Interior the green light to start taking … Read more
Democrat senators defect en masse and allow shooters to slaughter owls This week, a nation of owl lovers and animal advocates had a chance to grab a perch and behold the passion and wit and smarts of a very prominent defender of animals — U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. He stood on the Senate floor, … Read more
The plan will also enable killing of threatened spotted owls and also open up timber cutting in old growth forests WASHINGTON, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy today expressed deep disappointment with Democrat Senators for sinking a resolution led by Senator John Kennedy, R-La., to disapprove the U.S. Fish … Read more
Barred owls and spotted owls are in the crosshairs We’ve learned in recent days that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s billion-dollar “Barred Owl Management Strategy” (BOMS) is not what it seems. It’s a scheme. A con job. A bait-and-switch. Sold to the public as a rescue mission for the threatened northern spotted owl, the … Read more
Sen. John Kennedy amassed support from 30 senators to bring a resolution to the floor to stop a plan to kill North American barred owls and incidental killing of threatened spotted owls WASHINGTON, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy today applauded 30 U.S. senators for signing a discharge petition to … Read more
The fate of these raptors hangs not just on the actions of 100 U.S. senators, but the constituents who make their voices heard If Congress does not put the kibosh on the scheme to kill nearly half a million North American barred owls — purportedly to ease competition between them and spotted owls, who are … Read more
How online rodent-killer sales are killing America’s wildlife by Ted Williams Dr. Maureen Murray of Tufts Wildlife Clinic in North Grafton, Massachusetts, was trying and failing to maintain a clinical countenance. She was clicking through X-rays from necropsies she’d done on raptors killed by second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), and the images were depressing both of … Read more
The federal government is contracting with USDA’s notorious and ruthless Wildlife Services’ program to orchestrate mass owl killing We’ve been working as fast and as hard as we can to stop the federal government’s plan to kill barred owls in California, Oregon, and Washington. But this week, we’ve learned two things: 1) as our legal team just … Read more
House and Senate may take up a resolution in September to scuttle a billion-dollar plan to kill half a million North American forest owls The handful of federal wildlife managers who proposed killing long-protected forest owls, year after year and for decades to come, cannot be surprised to learn that more than 400 animal welfare, … Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Calling the federal government’s barred owl kill plan “unworkable, costly, and inhumane,” Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy today praised the introduction of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution by Senators John Kennedy, R-La., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. SJR 69 is a companion to HJR 111, introduced last week by Reps. … Read more
Lawmakers in Congress introduce resolution to nullify the billion-dollar barred owl massacre You can listen to an AI-generated reading of this story here: You’ve heard me sound the alarm about the costly, inhumane, and unworkable plan by our own federal government to massacre nearly half a million North American barred owls. Today, I am happy … Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy today praised the introduction of a bipartisan Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution led by Reps. Troy Nehls, R-Texas; Josh Harder, D-Calif.; Scott Perry, R-Pa.; and Adam Gray, D-Calif., to nullify the Biden-era “Barred Owl Management Strategy”—an unprecedented, costly, and unworkable plan to … Read more
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demand that government neither fund nor orchestrate the unprecedented slaughter of North American owls WASHINGTON — In an additional blow to the Biden-era plan to shoot over 450,000 barred owls in the Pacific Northwest, the Trump Administration has terminated three federal “bridge” grants critical to launching the U.S. Fish … Read more
Government Accountability Office determines that lawmakers can use Congressional Review Act to nullify the ‘Barred Owl Management Strategy’ You can listen to an AI-generated reading of this story here: It’s an arresting image for the modern-day conservation and wildlife protection movements. Soldiers, clad in army fatigues, eyes alert, and clasping AK-47s tethered to shoulder straps, … Read more
U.S. Representatives Andrew Garbarino and Adam Gray lead bipartisan letter from 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats calling on the Interior Department to scuttle plan to kill more than 450,000 barred owls, including in national parks Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Adam Gray, D-Calif., led a letter signed by 20 members of … Read more
U.S. Representatives Troy Nehls and Sydney Kamlager-Dove lead ideologically diverse group of lawmakers calling on the Interior Department to scuttle plan to kill more than 450,000 barred owls, including in national parks Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Troy E. Nehls, R-Tex., and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., penned a letter with 17 of their House colleagues to … Read more
A group of four lawmakers — three Oregon State House Members and one Senator — have asked Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The lawmakers’ press release can be seen below, along with a link to the letter from the four rural lawmakers. “Rural, range-state lawmakers are … Read more
Recently publicized grant to Hoopa Valley Tribe reveals that the cost of killing more than 450,000 barred owls, including in national parks and roadless areas, will eclipse a billion dollars — or 10 times the annual budget for all federal endangered species recovery programs Seattle, WA — Today the Center for a Humane Economy (“the … Read more
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to open nine units of the National Park Service in California to forest owl killing in unworkable plan (Seattle) — Today Animal Wellness Action and The Center for a Humane Economy called on superintendents serving Yosemite National Park, Redwoods National Park, and seven other National Park Service units in California to resist a … Read more
NPS leaders in Oregon should not reopen wounds from ‘timber wars’ of the ‘80s and ‘90s and hurt local economies by driving away tourists Seattle, WA — Today Animal Wellness Action and The Center for a Humane Economy called on superintendents serving Crater Lake National Park and Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve to resist a plan by a … Read more
Superintendents in Washington state should not allow barred owl killing plan that is unworkable, inhumane, and at odds with values of the National Park Service Seattle, WA — Today Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy called on superintendents from Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades national parks to resist … Read more
You can listen to this article here: We are not standing aside as the federal government begins to recruit hunters and shooters to execute the largest mass slaughter of raptors anywhere in the world. Yesterday, the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action filed a legal action in U.S. District Court in Washington … Read more
Fish and Wildlife Service strategy to preserve spotted owl populations doomed to fail on practical grounds given that the control area covers 24 million acres, including 14 units of the National Park Service Mach 2025 update: This lawsuit is active and ongoing, and the briefing on legal arguments will occur during the course of 2025. … Read more
Groups plan for litigation against USFWS as the agency begins implementation of flawed plan, devoid of cost estimates or explanation on who and how mass killing to be conducted Washington, D.C. — Leading animal welfare groups today charged that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) plan to kill upwards of 450,00 barred owls is costly, … Read more
Where does it end for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if it starts to manage competition and social relationships among native species? Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formally approved its unprecedented plan to deputize hunters to kill nearly half a million barred owls to reduce social competition with threatened spotted owls. … Read more
There is no way for the Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent in-migration of barred owls from the control area or adjacent areas where the forest owls are established. Washington, D.C. — Key animal welfare groups today charged that the Biden Administration plan to kill upwards of 450,00 barred owls, a species native to North … Read more
Hilary Franz manages millions of acres of public lands, and says killing scheme offers no guarantees, and that ‘we can do better’ Seattle, WA — In a video statement, Hilary S. Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands for Washington state, pointedly urged U.S. Fish and Wildlife to abandon its proposal to spend nearly a quarter-billion-dollars to kill … Read more
Hilary Franz says killing scheme costly, unworkable and may result in adverse collateral effects Seattle, WA — Hilary S. Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands for Washington state, wrote yesterday to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland with “concerns about the plan to kill nearly a half-million barred owls over the next three decades” and expressed alarm at … Read more
The relatively similar appearance of the barred and spotted owls is certain to produce inadvertent kills of the very birds the USFWS’s unfortunate plan is intended to protect. Where does it end for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if it starts to manage competition and social relationships among native species? My first objection to the … Read more
While critics of this plan recognize that barred owls compete with spotted owls, they say USFWS killing scheme is unworkable and will result in dangerous and far-reaching collateral effects Washington, D.C. — Today, 75 organizations led by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy wrote to Interior Secretary Deborah Haaland and urged … Read more