Cal-Maine came under an international spotlight last month when an undercover investigation there revealed harrowing, clearly illegal conditions for chickens and a veritable breeding ground for human health threats.

Concerned residents of Travis County and Gonzales County, Texas, represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court in an effort to stop the horrific abuses to birds and the human health risks posed by Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. -- the nation's largest egg supplier -- at its chicken-raising and egg production facility in Waelder, Texas.

File under: another failed attempt at interspecies communication

Were you ever that passionate? Were you ever that hopeful?

Animal welfare related claims on egg cartons are almost entirely unregulated in the U.S., rendering the labeling landscape nearly meaningless.

Proposed Regulations Would Require Truthful Disclosure

I rise today to speak about free-range eggs, and I congratulate Woolworths on its recent announcement that it will decrease the number of cage-laid eggs it stocks while increasing the range of free-range eggs available on its shelves. I should note that Coles supermarkets have also undertaken this course of action.

The link between animal cruelty and basic food safety.

We want to see photos of YOUR rescued animals!

My trip to Australia has reminded me that the exploitation of other animals by human beings is not limited to one culture or one country. And, our duty is to speak up for the animals, even those outside our continental borders, as they will never have a voice unless and until we give them one.

When Katrina Sharman and I arrived in Perth to continue the Voiceless animal law lecture series, we had a few hours of free time. We decided to take a cab to Fremantle, where the shipping port is and where live animals, mainly sheep and cattle, are shipped overseas.

One of the big challenges is the plight of live animals exported by ship to other countries. This is a large industry in Australia. Each year, Australia exports 4 million live sheep to the Middle East and 1/2 million live cattle to Southeast Asia.

Last night, I delivered my first keynote address for the Voiceless Animal Lecture Series to a large and eager audience at the University of Sydney Law School. I was joined at the podium by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, the Governor of New South Wales, Dr. Melissa Perry QC, and Professor Gillian Triggs, Dean of the Law School, who graciously welcomed us all.

Today, the Spanish region of Catalonia voted to ban bullfighting, a cruel blood "sport" long entrenched in Spanish culture. The ban -- the first-ever in mainland Spain -- passed with a vote of 68 to 55, and will go into effect in January 2012.

Non-Californian egg-laying hens are included in a new law allowing them to stretch their wings if their eggs make it to market in the Golden State but they still must wait until 2015 to gain this new freedom.

New study looks at purchasing habits in response to public education.

Check out the most recent Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter spotlight, submitted by Kristina Moen, president of the SALDF chapter at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago.

While in his last year at Chicago-Kent School of Law, Josh Grant, co-director of the school's Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter, wrote an in-depth article discussing Chicago's ban on foie gras.

Hialeah, Florida
Case Closed

Last year, Americans spent roughly $18 billion dollars on coffee—and virtually nothing to protect animals from some of the worst abuses imaginable. Is this who we are?

China Considers First Comprehensive Animal Protection Law

Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a California law banning the use of sick and disabled ("downed") animals in the human food supply. Last year, a federal judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing the law as a result of a lawsuit brought by the National Meat Association and the American Meat Institute.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a California law banning the use of sick and disabled animals in the human food supply.

Adopt a vegan/vegetarian diet.

The University of Washington Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) recently hosted a talk by Howard Lyman, author of "Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat."

On February 23, 2010, the Iowa Senate passed a "puppy mill" bill designed to improve the conditions for dogs and cats at commercial breeding facilities. The bill, House File 2280, passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 41 to 9.

I resisted becoming a vegan for a long time, mostly because I had a cheese addiction like you wouldn't believe. The funny thing is, I had several vegans around me at various times who should have been influential.

New bill allows veterinarians to report suspected cases of animal cruelty.

Jeremy Rifkin is a bestselling author, adviser to the European Union, founder and president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and senior lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School's Executive Education Program. Imagine my delight as I was listening to the radio earlier this week to hear a full-hour interview with Rifkin discussing his newest book, in which he argues that our future rests on our ability to function as an empathic society.

Change.org has launched their Ideas for Change in America 2010‏ competition, and your vote is needed to win better rights for animals!

Bob Barker may best be known as the beloved host of the longest running TV game show in history. But "The Price is Right" host is also a long-time advocate for animals and is the keynote speaker at Animal Legal Defense Fund's "Future of Animal Law" conference on April 9-11 at Harvard Law School.

Earlier this year, ALDF attorney Bruce Wagman did a speaking tour in the land down under with the excellent Australia-based animal rights organization Voiceless. Among the many interviews he did while on his Australian tour, he spoke with "The Law Report" at ABC Radio National, which just posted his interview on their site as "one of the best programs of 2009."

ALDF releases annual report ranking animal cruelty laws across the nation.

This report - the only one of its kind in the nation - ranks the animal protection laws of every state based on their relative strength and general comprehensiveness.

Proving that a few voices can create change, Boston College Law School Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) members convinced the school to stop using eggs from hens kept in battery cages and instead switch to using cage-free eggs.

In the spring 2009 semester, the Boston College Law School SALDF strategized a campaign to convince the school to stop using eggs from hens kept in battery cages and instead switch to using cage-free eggs.

Just a short while ago, we gathered with loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving. In commemoration of this holiday, my daughter's kindergarten class had a collaborative soup day where each child brought in a vegetable that they then prepared and added to a class soup pot.

Podcasts are now available of Animal Law: The Links, The Animal Law Conference at Lewis & Clark, hosted by the Center for Animal Law Studies and the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund at Lewis & Clark Law School.

How will you make your holiday kinder this year?

Back in September, we launched our Support Better Laws for Farmed Animals cause on Facebook, bringing awareness to the fact that there are no federal laws governing the conditions in which farmed animals are raised. If you received our Farmed Animal and the Law brochures, please comment and tell us your story.

Mention the word "bestiality" and you'll likely elicit one of two responses: kindergartner-like snickering, or horror. ALDF works to raise awareness of the problem so we can attack it with criminal consequences.

It might likely surprise you to hear that the United Nations has identified animal agriculture as the largest single contributor to climate change. According to a 2007 report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), livestock generate a whopping 18 percent of human-related greenhouse gas emissions - that's even more than the gas-guzzling transportation industry. In addition, the report states that animal agriculture is a major source of land and water degradation.

AB 243 has cleared the California Legislature and now awaits Governor Schwarzenegger's signature. ALDF provided research and advice to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office (who championed the proposal) on the drafting of the bill - a process which began more than a year ago.

If you haven't had a chance to watch this video of Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, talk about the devastating role factory farms are playing in the climate change crisis, take a moment to watch it now. According to the 2007 report by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), livestock generate a whopping 18 percent of human-related greenhouse gas emissions—that's even more than the gas-guzzling transportation industry.

Farmed animals are among the most abused in the United States, in numbers that are so staggering as to be almost incomprehensible. Investigations and industry whistleblowers have discovered abuses on farms and in slaughterhouses that are so horrific, most people cannot even bear to witness them.

Excluded by most state animal cruelty laws and the federal Animal Welfare Act, farmed animals are particularly at risk for large-scale exploitation and abuse since the advent of factory farms, which mechanized and exponentially expanded the production of animal products at the expense of humane animal care.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently heard arguments in National Meat Association v. Brown, a case in which the meat industry is attempting to invalidate a California law designed to reduce animal suffering and protect public safety.

This week only, ALDF's Farmed Animals and the Law brochures are available for FREE. Hand them out at events, display them at supporting merchants or conveniently leave them on the coffee table for your meat-eating housemates to peruse.

The July/August 2009 issue of GPSOLO magazine is all about animal law, providing tons of information for practitioners interested in the field - and further validating animal law's place as a recognized part of mainstream legal practice.

Farmed animals - those raised for the meat, dairy, and egg industries - are among the most abused in the United States, in numbers that are so staggering as to be almost incomprehensible. Find out how you can help.

Volume 2 of the Stanford Journal of Animal Law and Policy (SJALP) is now online.

While I wouldn't turn down gemstones, platinum, or even costume jewelry, I'm pretty sure the appropriate gift to offer me this month is tofu - I'm celebrating ten years of being vegan.

Have Americans' attitudes towards animals changed? Yes, they have, and it is most obvious in how Americans view their own companion animals.

Help stop animal hoarding! Support ALDF's model law.

A proposal for mandatory bans on contact with animals following a conviction for animal neglect or cruelty.

U.S. Supreme Court to address animal cruelty in U.S. v. Stevens.

As a special tribute to all mothers, both human and non-human, I felt compelled to revisit ALDF staffer Paula Mullen's blog post about the power of the mother/child bond.

This comprehensive resource discusses the most common types of animal fighting, issues common to animal fighting cases, state and federal laws and prosecuting animal fighting crimes.

If you're vegan, chances are you've heard someone say, "Oh, I respect what you're doing, but I could never give up ice cream." It's an understandable reaction: ice cream is good. Really good. Here's a very simple recipe for vegan ice cream.

You don’t need to look at a calendar to know Easter is just around the corner. The stores are already stocking pastel-colored baskets and Easter greeting cards, Easter specials are being advertised on TV and some of our pious brethren are wondering aloud what to give up for Lent. And you'll probably be seeing another annual tradition that heralds this holiday: pet stores and breeders promoting "Easter bunnies" for kids.

There is a little-known practice in the dairy industry called "tail docking." According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), tail docking is a procedure by which a dairy cow's tail is either removed or partially removed.

Martin County, Texas
Case Closed
Act now!

The Animal Legal Defense Fund appealed a Feb. 19 court decision which temporarily stops the state from enforcing key provisions of California's newly upgraded law banning the use of sick and disabled animals in the food supply.

The Chicago-Kent Student Animal Legal Defense Fund hosted the Chicago-Kent "Foie Gras Panel" to debate the legality, wisdom, and ramifications of Chicago's former ban on the sale of foie gras.

California Food Safety Law Enacted in Wake of Hallmark Meat Recall Put on Hold

Animal Legal Defense Fund Releases Annual Report Ranking Animal Cruelty Laws Across the Nation

This report - the only one of its kind in the nation - ranks the animal protection laws of every state based on their relative strength and general comprehensiveness.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund fought key legal battles to protect farmed animals in 2008, including filing a lawsuit to stop cruel confinement of calves to speaking on Capitol Hill in support of a new federal bill, the Farm Animals Anti-Cruelty Act. Watch our 2008 Victories for Farmed Animals slideshow as we look back at a few of the Animal Legal Defense Fund's greatest accomplishments and celebrate the animals whose lives have benefited from the support of ALDF members and advocates like you.

Historic Election Day Victory for Millions of Animals

Help Stop Animal Cruelty

ALDF offers a case study analysis on the criminal laws in Iowa, where the abuse of pigs on a farm supplying Hormel has raised a national outrage.

ALDF addresses caucus supporting Farm Animals Anti-Cruelty Act

Ontario County, New York
Case Closed

ALDF's New Study Ranks Provinces and Territories on Laws Protecting Animals - Ontario Ranks Worst, Manitoba Takes Top Honors in Animal Legal Defense Fund’s First-of-its-Kind Report

Animal Legal Defense Fund Dismisses Lawsuit Arguing that Corcpork, Inc. Violated Anti-Cruelty Laws by Keeping Pigs in Illegal Intensive Confinement Conditions