ALDF Points to Severe Cruelty and Dangerous Legal Violations in Agency’s Kill Methods

This week, John Yunker, author of the novel The Tourist Trail (Ashland Creek Press), sat down with the Animal Legal Defense Fund to discuss penguins, veganism, and animal advocacy in literature.

OSHA Fines Animals of Montana While Failing to Require Protective Physical Barriers

Lolita was one of seven orcas kidnapped in the notorious 1970 Penn Cove round up in Puget Sound, Washington. She is now confined to the smallest orca tank in North America, despite violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

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

Yesterday the Louisiana Court of Appeal issued its long-awaited opinion in Animal Legal Defense Fund v. State of Louisiana, holding that Michael Sandlin is ineligible for a permit to confine Tony the Tiger in a cage at the Tiger Truck Stop.

Federal Agency Must Now Decide Whether to Offer Captive Orca the Same Protection Afforded to Her Wild Kin

From the stench of fuel to the drone of diesel engines and the isolation of his roadside prison, Tony, a 12 year-old Siberian-Bengal tiger, has endured more than a decade of misery at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana.

This month the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Animal Book Club discusses issues of orcas in captivity as we continue our fight to protect Lolita, an orca trapped at the Miami Seaquarium.

ALDF Demands Department of Transportation Cease and Desist its Violations of Migratory Bird Treaty Act and National Environmental Policy Act

Groups Challenge Have Trunk Will Travel's Bid for Permit to Breed Elephants Into Violent and Law-Violating Business

Is it ethical to confine the ocean's largest predators in tiny tanks and make them perform tricks? Is it safe?

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.

The secrecy with which animals in laboratories are kept from the public eye is no accident. The use of animals in laboratories often amounts to legally-sanctioned animal abuse.

Everyone who cares about animal law should watch the EC-Seal Products case with interest, and see whether the WTO gets the balance right in this one.

Parks and Wildlife Department Taken to Task for Greenlighting Sasquatch Slaughter

The United States and the small African nation of Gabon are the only two countries in the world that continue to use chimpanzees as test subjects in behavioral and biomedical research.

Meet Kim McCoy, Executive Director of the One World One Ocean Foundation, and former quartermaster and International Executive Director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

The mascot for the Bakersfield Condors hockey team escaped from her "handler" during the national anthem before a game and was dropped several times. From the bird's perspective, she was far from "OK."

Endangered Species Act Protects Grizzlies, But Chief Saunooke Bear Park Is Violating Law, Has No Permit to Keep Bears in Concrete Pits

For the first time in 15 years, wild rhesus monkeys of North Central Florida’s Silver River area may not be trapped. ALDF supports nonlethal alternatives to the trapping and removal of monkeys, such as sterilization and return to the environment.

Animal Protection Groups Concerned About Future

ALDF, PETA, and Local Residents Get Green Light to Challenge Licensing of Roadside Zoo with History of Animal Abuse

What does it mean to be endangered? For those endangered whales in fragile marine ecosystems, it means the difference of life and death.

Elephants confined in zoos often face a parade of horribles, and ALDF is responding on all fronts.

Tara’s impressive history includes working as the CA Director and Legal Coordinator of a wildlife program for Earth Island Institute, clerking for the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center and for In Defense of Animals, serving as a legislative extern for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and managing the Golden Gate Audubon Society.

By now many of you may have read the story of the disabled bear that was killed this past August by property owners in an upscale development in Mountain Air, North Carolina because he was stealing food.

ALDF is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s) who brutally slaughtered and mutilated dolphins off the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

In a desperate attempt to resuscitate a dying industry, the Georgia Aquarium is vying for a permit to import 18 wild-caught beluga whales.

Last week, the federal government removed wolves from the Endangered Species list in the state of Wyoming. Without protection, wolves and pups in Wyoming will be hunted ferociously.

Lawsuit Against Jambbas Ranch Means New Life for Bear Who Had Languished for Years on Cement in Chain-Link Kennel

As a part of our 2012 Annual Fund Drive, we profiled Lolita the orca, Tony the tiger, and Ben the bear.

Theodore wasn’t just limping – he slogged forward with speed that would boost the self-esteem of a sloth.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Asks OSHA to Require Barriers Between Trainers and Dangerous Animals at Facilities Like SeaWorld

Government excludes captive orca from Endangered Species Act protections

Will Tony stay or will he go?

Last week I was forced to watch a bear, Ben, pace in his pathetic concrete and chain link enclosure in North Carolina. His sadness and mental and physical anguish is palpable.

Urge the USDA not to renew the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) license of Jambbas Ranch in Fayetteville, N.C. due to its repeated and ongoing violations, resulting in the suffering of Ben, a solitary bear, and the other animals kept there.

Roadside Zoo Allowed to Subject Bear and Other Animals to Inhumane Conditions Despite Repeated Violations of Welfare Laws

The Nonhuman Rights Project is the only organization working toward actual Legal rights for members of species other than our own.

ALDF Demands an End to Owner's Illegal Possession of the Big Cat

Around New Year's Day, OR7, a lone gray wolf from a pack in Oregon, crossed into Northern California, making him the first such wolf in California in nearly 90 years. Now California has been thrust into the debate about how to manage gray wolves.

Urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to include captive members of Lolita's Southern Resident pod in Endangered Species Act protections.

Several federal wildlife investigators cracked an international smuggling ring that trafficked for years in sawed-off rhinoceros horns, which fetch stratospheric prices in Vietnam and China for their supposed cancer-curing powers.

Because dolphins, porpoises, and whales are so intelligent and should be regarded as "non-human persons," a group of scientists, ethicists, and animal welfare groups has proposed a bill of rights for them, advocating for greater protection under the law.

For Seaquarium Owners, Exploiting an Endangered Whale Is Just Business as Usual

If foxes and rabbits have rights, then is a fox guilty of murder for eating a rabbit?

Chris Kubic, a high school social studies teacher, and his wife, Jennifer, recently noticed construction going on at a decommissioned nuclear power plant in Lake County, Illinois. Kubic, who is familiar with the snakes at Illinois Beach State Park, adjacent to the power plant, recognized that many hibernating snakes could be endangered if construction was allowed to continue near railroad tracks at the plant.

The laws intended to protect animals in this country are only as strong as the people willing to defend them. Thankfully for a lonely tiger named Tony, there are legal professionals like Monica Frois, Erin Pelleteri, and Brandy Sheely.

Animal Welfare Institute
Washington, D.C.

In January, the City of Claremont, California announced that coyotes will be a "New Priority Project" for 2012.

Animal Groups Urge Indiana to Correct Legal Snafu that Has Allowed Abuse of Turtles at Annual Event as Appalling Footage from Indiana's Snapperfest 2011 Is Released

With the support of marine scientists, environmental groups, and the International Game Fish Association, which keeps track of all sport fishing records, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted in November to protect tiger sharks, smooth hammerheads, scalloped hammerheads, and great hammerheads.

One Southern California city trail blazes new ways to deal with their coyote populations.

You helped make incredible strides for animals this year! Please make a special year-end gift to the Animal Legal Defense Fund and help make 2012 another year of extraordinary progress.

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

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!

Rats were motivated to act empathically and made personal sacrifices to do so.

With your support, we can win victories for exploited and abused animals.

Last week, the USDA announced the largest penalty ever assessed against an animal exhibitor for violations of the Animal Welfare Act when it settled with the owners of the Ringling Bros. circus for $270,000 stemming from alleged mistreatment of elephants and tigers.

Current regulations under the Endangered Species Act have created an illogical and self-defeating double standard that grants "wild" chimpanzees vital protections under the Act, while denying "captive" chimpanzees in the United States any protection at all.

Call Congress today!

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!

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, PETA, and three individuals filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service for violating the Administrative Procedure Act by excluding Lolita, a solitary orca who has been confined to a tiny concrete tank at the Miami Seaquarium for more than 40 years, from the Endangered Species Act.

Who can argue that a tiger wants to be spend his life in a cage at a truck stop?

Please send a letter to Governor Rick Perry urging him to take immediate action to stop the killing of Texas burros and add your name to this petition.

Judge agrees with ALDF and rules current permit must be revoked.

Help ban private ownership of exotic animals in Ohio!

California Governor signs law banning shark finning.

West Hollywood is the first municipality in the country to outlaw the sale of fur.

Slowly but surely, our culture and our laws are converging on a consensus that fashion should be pain-free.

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.

The bill outlawing shark fins in the State of California has cleared a big hurdle and is on its way to a final vote by the full Senate.

A new law was passed on July 5th in the Bahamas, banning commercial shark fishing.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Seeks Information, Eyewitnesses to Abuse of "Trained" Elephants During Film and Television Productions

Have you witnessed an elephant being neglected, harmed, or mistreated in any way on a California movie set in the past year?

Pennsylvania residents: Contact your Senator and ask support for SB 626, to finally ban pigeon shoots!

Plaintiffs Protest Cruelty at the Zoo and the Use of City Funds to Support Facilities, Practices that Violate Animal Protection Laws

Help stop this massacre of America's wild horses! Contact your U.S. Representatives and Senators today.

ALDF goes back to court to fight for Tony's immediate release.

In the wake of ALDF's recent victory in the Tony the Tiger case, we've received a lot of questions about the ruling. ALDF staff attorney Matthew Liebman answers some of these questions.

Speak out against the sadistic practice of penning by submitting comments to the Indiana Natural Resources Commission by May 18th.

In Hawaii, Peacock "Pests" May Still be Killed, Just Not with Baseball Bats, and Attending a Dogfight Becomes a Felony; Florida Slated to Finally Criminalize the Sexual Assault of Animals

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will not renew the permit that allows Michael Sandlin, owner of Grosse Tete's Tiger Truck Stop, to display Tony, a ten-year-old Siberian-Bengal tiger.

Baton Rouge Court Grants Permanent Injunction, Ordering Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to Stop Issuing Illegal Permit Allowing Tony to Be Kept on Display in Iberville Parish

Baton Rouge Court to Consider the Animal Legal Defense Fund's Lawsuit Against the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for Issuing Illegal Permit Allowing Tony to Be Kept on Display in Iberville Parish

Kristin talks about her concern over Tony's captivity.

This is your last chance before the hearing to join the over 27,000 people who have already signed the petition in ALDF's fight to get Tony moved to a reputable and humane big cat sanctuary.

Leo is the latest high-profile supporter to join ALDF's campaign to free Tony.

On April 9th, Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike hailed a "historic" last-minute accord to pass a federal budget and avert a government shutdown. In doing so, both sides did something else historic. They agreed to throw wolves, and one of our nation's proudest and most successful animal protection laws, the Endangered Species Act, under the bus.

Pennsylvania residents: please make a brief, polite call to your state senator and ask support for Senate Bill 626, to finally ban pigeon shoots.

In Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. United States Fish & Wildlife Serv., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2349 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 8, 2011), a challenge was brought to a decision of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which was made under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq., regarding the "kangaroo rat" and his "critical habitat."

Great news from Baton Rouge, where Judge Michael Caldwell has ruled in favor of the Animal Legal Defense Fund and Louisiana taxpayers in our lawsuit to free Tony the Tiger from the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana.

Vampire Pam on HBO's True Blood joins ALDF in the fight to free Tony.