Animal Protective Legislation

Cody Carlson had no way of preparing for this moment. He was a Manhattan kid, days removed from working as an analyst for a business-intelligence firm, where he scrutinized corporations and their executives. Now he was standing in a bleak barn at New York’s largest dairy… Read More

After weeks of opposition from animal welfare advocates, labor groups and First Amendment experts, a California assembly member withdrew a bill that would limit undercover abuse investigations before it could advance past its first… Read More

State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, has introduced a bill in the General Assembly that would appoint an animal advocate in animal cruelty cases. The advocates, which would be University of Connecticut law students or pro bono attorneys, would work to ensure that those accused in such cases are ordered to undergo counseling and/or serve prison terms and would not be allowed into programs… Read More

Hens tightly crammed in tiny cages. Live birds housed with mummified carcasses, birds trapped in wire and automatic feeders, a “blanket” of dead flies on the floor, a barn so dark workers needed headlamps and ammonia so potent workers need masks. Those are the conditions an undercover Investigator working for the Humane Society of the United States found at a Krieder Farms, a large dairy and hen… Read More

On one covert video, farm workers illegally burn the ankles of Tennessee walking horses with chemicals. Another captures workers in Wyoming punching and kicking pigs and flinging piglets into the air. And at one of the country’s largest egg suppliers, a video shows hens caged alongside rotting bird corpses, while workers burn and snap off the beaks of young… Read More

Animal rights advocates gathered Friday at the animal shelter to push for the passage of a “puppy mill bill” in the General Assembly. Such a bill proposed in 2009 sought tighter regulations on breeders and assurances that the animals were receiving adequate food, shelter, exercise and veterinary care. But it stalled due to several concerns, including its potential effects on agribusiness and… Read More

Today, March 11, marks the culmination of 23 years of campaigning to end the suffering for animals who were used in tests for cosmetics sold in the European Union because people who cared refused to give up. Starting today, anyone selling cosmetic products in the EU will not be allowed to test finished products or their ingredients on animals anywhere in the world, whether or not an alternativ… Read More

The North Dakota House overwhelmingly decided Wednesday that cruelty to animals should be a Class C felony. “This is a good bill that provides protection to animals and also protects our state’s No. 1 industry, which is agriculture,” said Rep. David Rust,… Read More

After five years of delay, the federal government today finally proposed to protect more than 739 miles of critical habitat for threatened loggerhead sea turtles on their nesting beaches along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These sea turtles face serious threats to their long-term survival from drowning in fishing nets, loss of nesting beaches due to coastal development and sea-level rise. Read More

Today, the Maryland State Senate approved a bill that would strengthen regulations on the sale, possession and distribution of shark fins throughout the state. The Maryland House of Representatives already passed the bill last month, and it will now go to Gov. Martin O’Malley to be signed into law. Oceana applauds Maryland legislators for their leadership in helping to reduce the market for… Read More