Winter Quarterly Update

Wolves, Pigs, Macaw, Others Rescued from Rural Pennsylvania Zoo and Testing Lab

Until your support brought them to sanctuary, gray wolves Ridge and Arrow paced back and forth in apparent psychological distress in a small enclosure at a rural Pennsylvania zoo.

At the same facility, a beautiful endangered macaw named Scarlet had plucked out most of her feathers, a hallmark of stress. The sole ring-tailed lemur at the facility, Mrs. Lemur, was kept in a tiny cage, all alone except for the guinea pig who lived in the neighboring cage.

Meanwhile, Bleu Boi and Rumpelstiltskin, Göttingen pigs, were leading lives we can only imagine in a research laboratory. Göttingen pigs like them were specifically bred to be used in biomedical research, engineered to be small and docile.

With your help, the Animal Legal Defense Fund embarked on the first animal transfers in what will be a series of dozens from the rural Pennsylvania zoo to new sanctuary homes, and separately helped facilitate the rescue of the two pigs from the lab.

Bleu Boi and Rumpelstiltskin follow six other pigs you previously helped ALDF legally transfer out of research facilities and into new sanctuary homes in 2024. We also contributed financially toward each pig’s initial care at sanctuary. (New Life Animal Sanctuary also played a significant role in securing the pigs’ release.)

Thanks to you, these animals have already made significant strides in their new lives at reputable sanctuaries across the country — with more animals to follow.

Victory for Imperiled Tule Elk in California

Following ALDF’s years-long battle to protect an imperiled population of Tule elk from starvation and dehydration at the Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California, workers with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) finally began dismantling a tall fence that had prevented the elk from accessing vital food and water sources.

The fence was placed at the request of local ranchers seeking to prevent the legally protected native elk from competing with their cattle for grazing opportunities and water resources — despite the fact that the American people, not private ranchers, own these public lands.

With your help, ALDF had sued the NPS, alongside concerned residents and represented by Harvard Law School’s Animal Law & Policy Clinic — fighting the case all the way to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s yet another in a long line of cases in which public resources have been misused for the benefit of animal agriculture at the expense of native wildlife. With you by our side, we’re proud to continue this fight.

Hear ALDF Executive Director Chris Green discuss the Tule elk case on the Animal Law Podcast, available below.

Raising Awareness of Factory Farm Cruelty

During some of the busiest travel days of the year in December 2024, we ran a 30-second commercial in airports across the country, shedding light on the cruelty of factory farming. Hundreds of thousands of travelers were exposed to a message of compassion for some of the most abused animals on Earth. The ad, narrated by Academy Award-winning actor and activist Joaquin Phoenix, urged viewers to turn to ALDF for opportunities to take action for animals.

Lawsuit Filed: Taking On California’s Flawed Climate Program

Raising animals on factory farms isn’t just cruel, but also causes major environmental and climate harms that impact communities and wildlife as well. Unfortunately, a California climate initiative called the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is being misused, devoting significant funding and resources to prop up a flawed concept known as “biogas,” or factory farm gas. In essence, the LCFS is providing financial incentives that further entrench the factory farming industry and even encourage factory farms to expand — harming even more animals. With your help, we’re collaborating in a diverse coalition suing to stop this misuse.

Training Animal Cruelty Case Professionals: Fighting for Justice for Animal Victim

In collaboration with the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, ALDF co-presented the 13^th annual National Animal Cruelty Prosecution Conference in November 2024. Held in Richmond, Virginia, the three-day conference brought together our criminal justice experts alongside prosecutors (including Senior Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch), shelter staff, law enforcement agencies, veterinarians, and others involved in the on-the-ground fight to combat crimes against animals.