August 10, 2013
San Francisco, California

We did it! Together, you and other animal advocates helped us reach our goal of 50,000 signatures on our citizen’s petition to ban foie gras.

Legal Battle Continues against the USDA for Allowing the Sale of Diseased Bird Livers

Please contact the USDA and FSIS and urge them to support ALDF's petition to clarify dangerously confusing labeling in the use of antibiotics in meat and poultry.

ALDF Calls on Federal Agency to Protect Public from "Superbug" Crisis Posed by Factory Farms

Animal news from the desk of ALDF's Executive Director, Stephen Wells.

Agency responds to Lawsuit Pushing for Mandatory Disclosure of "Eggs from Caged Hens"

ALDF Calls on Animal Agriculture Alliance to Produce Alleged Evidence of Manipulated Factory Farm Footage

The Animal Agriculture Alliance is holding a conference in Arlington, Virginia on May 1st and 2nd called “Activists at the Door: Protecting Animals, Farms, Food & Consumer Confidence.”

The Animal Legal Defense Fund had a great week in our fight to protect the lives and advance the interest of animals!

Attorney General Asked to Investigate State Foie Gras Ban Violations After List of Hudson Valley Foie Gras Purchasers Is Made Public

Horse slaughter for human consumption has been outlawed in the United States for many years, but a recent push by the animal agriculture lobby aims to open the slaughterhouse doors to horses once again.

Meanwhile, Tyson supplier's employees were convicted of cruelty.

ALDF’s False-Advertising Lawsuit Continues against New York-based Hudson Valley Foie Gras

As the days grow warmer here in Northern California, the Animal Legal Defense Fund docket is heating up with innovative ways to fight animal cruelty.

I understood in my mind they were trying to help me but my body didn't understand that. My body felt like it was being battered. For the birds, there is no logical understanding. There is no compassion. There is only brutality, betrayal, and pain.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Fights Deceptive Marketing by Hudson Valley Foie Gras

If, like most Americans, you and your loved ones eat meat as a regular part of your diet, you should consider the following: an astounding eighty (80%) of all antibiotics sold in this country is fed to farmed animals.

It's time for all the sweets that spring holidays bring, but without the eggs and hold the cruelty.

Do we have the right to know how eggs are really produced? Labels on egg cartons reading "From Caged Hens," "Cage-Free," or "Free-Range" would be a step in the right direction.

Lawsuit Pushes for Mandatory Labeling of Eggs as "From Caged Hens," "Cage-Free," or "Free-Range"

What is the future of humane eggs? The future, according to Josh Tetrick, CEO of Hampton Creek Foods, is plants.

The Stockton, California-based egg producers are using misleading packaging to distort the nature of their industrial-scale operations. Take action!

The U.S. produces about 75 billion eggs a year. Cartons labeled by phrases like "cage-free," "free-range," and "pastured," adorn egg packages in most markets. But what do these phrases mean? The vast majority of egg-laying hens live lives of extreme deprivation and cruelty.

Undercover Investigation Exposes Napa’s La Toque Restaurant for Flagrant Violation of Foie Gras Ban

Who wears fur anymore? It is an unquestionably cruel luxury that only the most callous would put on their shopping list.

Ongoing Legal Fight against Foie Gras Industry Continues

In the largest California farmed animal rescue in history the Turlock, California-based company A & L Poultry abandoned 50,000 hens without food or water and left them to die. In response, ALDF filed an extreme neglect complaint with the Stanislaus County Superior Court.

U.S. Insistence on Feed Additive "Ractopamine" Causes Alarm Worldwide

This week, ALDF filed a consumer protection complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Tyson Food Inc. for misleading consumers with deceptive advertising. As the largest U.S. producer of chicken products, and the second largest producer of pork and beef products, Tyson’s presence in the animal product industry extends across the nation.

ALDF Presses the FTC to Investigate Misleading Animal Welfare and Sustainability "Greenwashing" by Nation's Largest Chicken Producer

Anyone who cares about animals needs to understand what ractopamine is, why factory farmers use it, and how little the FDA does to protect animals and the general public.

This week, ALDF joined forces with Center for Food Safety (CFS) to petition the FDA to rethink its mistaken approval of high levels of the dangerous animal drug ractopamine.

Undercover Investigation Leads to Landmark Florida “Public Nuisance” Lawsuit

A dark world of animal abuse is proliferating in Florida. Known as "backyard slaughter," animals are illegally slaughtered and butchered on makeshift farms. The banned meat is then sold on the black market.

ALDF’s Litigation Program is going to court this week to shed light on the living condition of hens in the egg industry.

A day of gratitude and compassion cannot include cruelty or slaughter.

Lawsuit Targets New York Foie Gras Producer’s False “Humane” Advertising Claims

Animal law requires hard work, especially in cases that can continue for years. This is why the Animal Legal Defense Fund was so delighted to have Morgan Hector step aboard as a pro bono lawyer in our foie gras suit against the USDA.

This year’s drought is leading U.S. farmers to cut corners—in cost and in animal welfare. Instead of buying increasingly expensive feed-corn, they are feeding cows surplus candy.

Lawsuit Targets Deceptive Promotional Materials Used by Judy’s Eggs and Petaluma Egg Farm

Lawsuit targets failure to declare potential health risks of products from force-fed ducks and geese.

Due to the torturous force-feeding process universally employed in the industry, foie gras, whether from Hudson Valley or any other producer, is never the humane choice.

The San Francisco Animal Care and Control Deputy Director has said that the agency won't issue citations to chefs who give away foie gras.

Free foie gras, “foie-kage” fees, boycotting California wines—the attempts to shake off the recent foie gras ban in California are reminiscent of the Dr. Seuss story, “Green Eggs and Ham.”

The California ban is a basic prohibition on torturing animals to make them taste better. I was shocked to hear officials suggesting they would not enforce the ban.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Asks Attorney General Harris to Take on Local Chefs, Industry Insiders Who Claim Force-Fed Foie Gras is "Humane"

Compassion Over Killing (COK), Cal-Cruz Hatcheries, Inc., and its president, Brian Collins, have entered into a settlement to resolve all claims relating to an unfair business practices lawsuit based on alleged animal cruelty at the hatchery.

Animal Legal Defense Fund and Compassion Over Killing Claim Victory in Lawsuit Against Cal-Cruz Based on Undercover Investigation Revealing Animal Cruelty

On July 1st, California's force-fed foie gras ban will take effect, and the state will take its place as the first to prohibit this diseased and inhumane product.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Represents Farmed Animal Sanctuaries Who Rescued Almost 4,500 Birds

You know you've crossed into the Twilight Zone when celebrity chefs who promote the sale of foie gras, a "delicacy" consisting of the intentionally enlarged livers of force-fed ducks, claim to be victims.

Federal Poultry Products Inspection Act Requires USDA to Prohibit Adulterated Livers from Entering Food Supply

Animal protection law takes effect this July.

Steer tailing and horse tripping are tortuous events that have been banned in California and at least eight other states. It is time for the Minnesota State Legislature to step up and ban these rodeo activities. They are animal cruelty, plain and simple.

It's easy to see why legions of journalists and bloggers have gleefully jumped on the pink slime bandwagon, offering their commentary on the massive backlash.

Food safety risks, animal abuse, and illegal working conditions are rampant on factory farms -- and the corporate agriculture lobby is attempting to pass so-called "ag gag" laws in several states -- laws which would make it illegal to photograph or videotape at agricultural facilities.

Producing foie gras, a delicacy only the uber-rich normally eat, equals animal cruelty.

Do you know where your food comes from? Let's hope not from Iowa.

Why big ag is working so hard to keep what goes on behind factory farm gates a secret.

On March 2, Iowa governor Terry Branstad caved to the factory farming industries and signed House File 589, an "ag gag" law designed to keep the public in the dark about the cruelty that pervades modern animal agriculture.

Prevent factory farmers from hiding what goes on behind closed doors.

Food safety risks, animal abuse, and illegal working conditions are rampant on factory farms, and the corporate agriculture lobby is attempting to pass so-called "ag gag" laws -- laws which would make it illegal to photograph or videotape at agricultural facilities, or to possess or distribute such evidence.

An estimated 50,000 chickens were found starving on a Stanislaus County farm after they were left without feed for over two weeks. Homes are needed for surviving hens, who will be ready for adoption in a week or two. Please visit Animal Place's adoption page if you can help.

In May 2008, Christopher Comins shot two Siberian husky dogs that had come onto an Orange County, Florida property where Comins happened to be walking.

I consider myself a compassionate person. Yet, I know that there are situations in which I have let myself and others down, where the limits of my compassion have been reached. With that knowledge, I'm working on enlarging and strengthening my own compassion.

Help prevent the cruel mistreatment of sick and disabled farmed animals!

Contact your federal legislators and ask for their support of the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act.

Farmed animals have been left unprotected from cruelty laws for too long.

Animal Legal Defense Fund and Compassion Over Killing Seek to Stop Abuse of Newborn Chicks Following Undercover Investigation

Do people still not know where the fur trimming on their jacket comes from?

With the steady stream of shocking undercover video documenting abuses of America's "food animals" making it into our regular media diet, I am not at all surprised that the factory meat/egg/dairy industries are trying to suppress the free flow of information about their operations.

Cue the holiday clichés--snow gently falling amidst the evergreens, sipping cocoa by firelight, and the most adorable holiday cliché of all--rescued animals in outerwear!

ALDF combats attempts to criminalize documenting abuse on factory farms.

Post-Holiday Indulgence, Could Celebrity Chef Be as Diseased as Birds Force-Fed for Foie Gras?

What laws exist to protect the greatest number of animals used by humans: farmed animals?

Many people will buy foie gras this season, believing the industry's lies that it's somehow humane.

Give thanks that turkeys are not our food, but our companions.

More than a quarter-million Americans have already signed the Animal Legal Defense Fund's Animal Bill of Rights. Sign on your support and speak out to your lawmakers today!

ALDF intervenes in case, supporting state anti-cruelty law against corporate profit-seekers

On November 9, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments in a case that will determine whether California voters or out-of-state corporations have the right to decide how farmed animals in California are treated.

ALDF is now fighting a case in the Supreme Court that shows they are.

Texas is putting the welfare of factory farmers over that of its citizens. What else are state officials good for if they cannot even protect food safety?

The Cal-Maine facility, where more than one million chickens are crammed into cages so small that the hens cannot even spread their wings, was packed full of live birds in various stages of illness and disease, and caged alongside dead, decaying corpses.

Groups join Texas legal battle to protect consumers from salmonella outbreaks

The rightness or wrongness of how we treat animals is not just about the number of animals.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a legal petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, urging that foie gras -- the "fatty liver" of a force-fed duck or goose -- bear a consumer warning label stating "NOTICE: Foie gras products are derived from diseased birds."

Join the Animal Legal Defense Fund in urging the USDA to place a consumer warning label on foie gras.

Veterinarians play an integral role in the fight against animal cruelty. Download ALDF's quick reference guide for state by state information regarding veterinarians' duty to report suspected animal cruelty.

It's time to close loopholes in the federal animal fighting law, thereby giving law enforcement the tools they need to hold animal abusers accountable.

Help make it illegal to attend or bring a minor to animal fights!

In its treatment of farmed animals, how does the United States compare to Europe? Sadly, the answer is: not so great.

When we are faced with mass suffering, is it easier not to care?

If you have purchased foie gras believing it was humanely raised, we want to hear from you.

On July 7th, the Humane Society of the United States and the United Egg Producers announced an agreement by which the two traditional adversaries will jointly recommend that Congress pass new standards for the welfare of egg-laying hens. So how does this legislation fit into the broader scheme of federal animal protections?

In hipster enclaves from Silver Lake to Williamsburg, the long July 4 weekend no doubt meant a serious run on PBR, miles of windblown bangs, and artfully-uniformed ironic dodge ball games (the short shorts! the tube socks!).

The city of Juárez considers bringing back bullfighting as a way to stimulate the economy.

A post on kcrg.com reports that "Opponents of a measure aimed at helping agricultural operations guard against 'gotcha' videos secretly filmed inside livestock operations are raising food safety and other concerns in an attempt to keep House File 589 from reaching Gov. Terry Branstad's desk this legislative session."

By now many readers will have heard of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's recent announcement that he will only eat animals that he personally killed. He's since boiled to death a lobster and cut a goat's throat.

When we animal lovers/defenders/activists/ lawyers/caregivers get together for a seminar, why on earth do the event organizers serve meat?

The following excerpt comes from a letter that ALDF received in response to our last member newsletter, in which we wrote about the need for labeling eggs due to the terrible conditions that chickens are kept in by the egg industry.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund files comments regarding the USDA's proposed modifications to the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program which intend to offer healthier food choices to our nation's children.

Support a win-win approach to providing children with nutritious, wholesome food choices while simultaneously reducing the number of animals used in the food industry.

Everyone has certain things that bother them and one of the things that really vexes me is when people refer to animals as "it." Ooh, like nails scratching on a chalk board.

Lieutenant Shane Nelson has been in law enforcement in Oregon for more than 16 years. As the Administrative Lieutenant of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, Shane oversees the office's Large Animal Rescue and 23 acre Livestock Rescue & Shelter.

Deschutes County Sheriff Larry Blanton has been in law enforcement in Oregon for more than 30 years. Sheriff Blanton was instrumental in creating the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office 23-acre Livestock Rescue & Shelter, a facility dedicated to caring for large animals seized in criminal cruelty cases.

Gregory Vincent was elected as Edmonson County Attorney in 1998 and continues to hold the position. Determined to win justice for the birds abused in one of the largest cockfighting operations in the Southeast, Gregory is currently aggressively prosecuting the case.

Jamie Contreras is currently Assistant Attorney General in the appellate division with the Oregon Department of Justice in Salem, Oregon. She is working on a potentially precedent-setting cruelty case appeal, in which she is arguing that the court should recognize that abused animals are indeed individual "victims."

Deputy Lindsey Evans works with the Umatilla County Sheriff's office in Pendleton, Oregon. Recently, Deputy Evans prepared a painstaking police report in a nightmarish animal neglect case. Without her diligence at the horrific crime scene, there is a good chance prosecutors could not have moved forward with criminal charges.

Many people are otherwise vegetarian, "except for fish" -- "pescatarian," in somewhat-common parlance. Personally, I think it's unarguably morally inconsistent to be an otherwise-ethical vegetarian and still to consume the bodies of fishes who have, there is no doubt, suffered in their deaths.

Recently, Animal Legal Defense Fund attorneys filed suit against the state of Texas in the case Doe v. Suehs. The suit alleges that the state has done nothing to ensure that companies that produce eggs in the state comply with a state law which, in no uncertain terms, requires egg producers to not keep hens in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, and to attend to dead, injured, and ill hens.

On the third day of trial, Judge Bob LeBlanc dismissed the case against Christopher Comins, acquitting him of all charges related to the May 2008 shooting of two Siberian husky dogs in Orange County, Florida.

The latest indication of Spain's waning tolerance for the cruelty of bullfighting is the recent announcement by a Spanish broadcaster who is refusing to air bullfights on television, citing children as the reason for the ban.

ALDF grant aids sheriff's animal rescue

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

Groups Call on the Agency to Issue New Regulations Declaring Foie Gras a Diseased Product

"Free Baby Mendes" Campaign Shines Spotlight on Unlawful Conditions, Little-Known Practice within Dairy Industry

House Agriculture Committee Removes Section 123

Dodgers Sponsor and Hot Dog Purveyor Farmer John® Under Fire in California Lawsuit Aimed to Stop Illegal Abuse of Thousands of Pigs

Q&A With ALDF’s Future of Animal Law Conference Keynote Speaker Jeremy Rifkin

Central Valley's CorcPork, Inc., linked to Farmer John® Commercial Pork Products, Violates Consumer Rights, Anti-Cruelty Laws, by Keeping Pigs in Illegal Intensive Confinement Conditions

National Animal Law Organization Offers Support in Case of Hialeah Man Charged with Ramming Cows with His Van

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, East Bay Animal Advocates, and three Bay Area residents dismissed their lawsuit against Corcpork, Inc. California's largest industrial pig farming operation, after the facility agreed to stop the abusive practice of confining thousands of female pigs in crates so tiny that they cannot turn around or even scratch.

After taking the case against Mendes Calf Ranch all the way to the highest court in the land, ALDF got news on May 15, 2008 that the California Supreme Court was dismissing ALDF v. Mendes

The Animal Legal Defense Fund has produced a first-of-its-kind report – a ranking of all fifty states and the District of Columbia for the general comprehensiveness and relative strength of their respective animal protection laws.

If you witness the abuse or neglect of an animal, please immediately file a complaint with your local law enforcement agency and insist that an investigation be completed. If charges have been filed, please contact ALDF and read this important information.