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

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

Animal Legal Defense Fund Gathers Local Support for Justice in Felony Cruelty Case

PETA and ALDF Will Seek to Add Case of Rabbit Denied Veterinary Care to Lawsuit Challenging Roadside Zoo's Federal License to Operate

Investigations Reveal Illegal Neglect and Abuse of Animals

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.

Exciting technological progress has been made to replace animals in testing along with a groundswell of support among scientists.

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.

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.

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.

Sole Responsibility is to Litigate Animal Cruelty Cases

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

For sled dogs, animal cruelty has become a corporate-sponsored industry. On March 2, 2013 Alaska will hold the annual Iditarod.

Everyone is excited for the Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday. I've always been disturbed by the use of animals in film. This year's Oscars highlight the reason why.

Today’s daily action for National Justice for Animals Week is: Fight animal abuse from your home computer.

Animal Legal Defense Fund’s All-New App Gives Smartphone Users an Easy Tool to Protect Animals

ALDF Crime Tips is a first-of-its-kind app designed to help you help animals—by letting you report abuse and neglect of animals in your community right from your phone.

Sunny is a sweet dog who was rescued from a serial dog abuser. Celebrate National Justice for Animals Week with ALDF through sharing Sunny's happy ending.

Abusers of animals are five times as likely to harm humans. Nearly half of the victims who stay in violent households do so because they are afraid for their animals. The "link" between violence against humans and animals is clear. But there are resources that can help.

At the 2012 Animal Law Conference, Dr. Maya Gupta spoke on the link between domestic violence and animal cruelty. ALDF followed up with this interview to get more details.

Take action to secure a meaningful sentence for father of boy who shot three dogs while hunting.

Students Distribute Pamphlets and Peacefully Protest the Killing of an Indiana Family’s Dog

Animal Protection Groups Charge Federal Investigations Reveal Severe Neglect of Animals

Last week, a 73-year-old Firestone, Colorado man, Joseph Losinsksi, was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. His crime: poisoning two dogs with strychnine-laced meatballs.

Perpetrator Intentionally Set Trap, Killing Homeowner's Dog

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

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 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.

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

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources states that live turtles will not be used in campground festivities, following year of investigation and legal legwork by animal advocates.

We support closing the online sale loophole for puppy mills, but call on APHIS to go further by enacting tougher enforcement guidelines.

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.”

Criminal justice involving a crime against an animal should literally mean that each and every animal is significant and is worth the time, energy, and investment of a thorough investigation.

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

I've written in the past about how important it is for animal cruelty prosecutors to "take the high road" and be scrupulously ethical. As I've studied and considered the issue further, it has occurred to me that an even more fundamental ethical issue presents itself with disturbing frequency -- the failure of prosecutors to prosecute animal cruelty adequately or at all.

Life is a terrible, depressing existence for chimpanzees caught in the web of medical research and testing.

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.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos and Senator Bill Emmerson, R-Hemet, recently addressed state legislators on SB 1145, a bill that seeks to increase the fines levied against participants and spectators of illegal cockfights.

Wayne County, Michigan
Act now!

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.

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

Please take a moment to urge Governor Otter to support future strengthening of the animal cruelty law with provisions for felony convictions on the first offense and meaningful penalties for violators.

Michael A. Tabor of Branson, Missouri tied a 9-month-old colt to the back of a minivan and drove at speeds approaching 35 MPH. The reason? He wanted to halter break this poor young horse.

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.

Shocking Fatalities Among Monkeys at Lab Prompt Inquiry to Cambridge Public Health Department

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

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

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

Last year, "Windchill's Law" was introduced in the Wisconsin Senate, but it fizzled as the legislative session ended. In a continued effort to strengthen animal abuse laws, state legislators are trying to revive the bill during the current legislative session.

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

Legal victory stops systematic abuses at a Kentucky animal shelter.

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.

In order to effectively prosecute those who harm animals there needs to be a collaborative effort among agencies and individuals. Animal cruelty cases are unique because none of the "victims" are able to tell the authorities what happened. Therefore, there is a need for the expertise of a veterinarian or other animal health care professional in nearly every case.

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.

Meet National Justice for Animals Week's mascot Teagan, a little German shepherd who endured a life of severe neglect and abuse before she was miraculously rescued.

Atlantic City's Steel Pier recently came under heavy fire for plans to revive its famous diving horse show. The show, which ran from the 1920s through the 1970s, involved forcing a horse to jump off a 40 foot platform into a pool of water below.

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.

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 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

Especially where groups of neighboring urban buildings are involved, empty foreclosure properties present an increasing challenge for law enforcement as incoming criminals replace outgoing residents.

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

Help ring in the new year by inviting your friends and family to Abuse an Animal, Go to Jail! today.

Science continues to destroy the myth that animals' rights are not worthy of legal consideration.

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?

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.

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?

Factory farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations, house hundreds or thousands of animals in very small spaces. Many of the animals on factory farms live their entire lives in cramped, dirty conditions just eating and excreting.

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

Animal Legal Defense Fund Releases Annual Report Ranking Animal Cruelty Laws Across the Nation; Illinois Remains on Top, Mississippi Shows Most Improvement

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

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.

Fresno County, California
Bench warrant issued.

Pet theft remains a terrible reality across the country. Often underlying these crimes are dogfighters seeking "bait" animals and dealers acquiring animals to sell to research and breeding operations. Find out what you can do to help.

Contact your legislators and let them know that you are concerned about animal abuse and domestic violence in your community.

In August 2011, the University of Pennsylvania was issued an official warning letter for its "failure to establish programs of adequate veterinary care" for some of its research animals.

Maybe it's time for the legislature of Florida and other states to start explicitly treating animals like the victims they, so very often, tragically are.

So reads the headline of one of the many news stories on the trial and sentencing of Diane Eldrup who operated a "shelter & boarding facility" in Deer Park, IL, named "Muddy Paws."

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

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.

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

Help ban private ownership of exotic animals in Ohio!

What Is a Dog Worth? Oral Argument in Heartbreaking Case Addresses How Our Legal System Values Companion Animals

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.

Calls out cruel treatment of nonhuman animals.