Animal Welfare Institute

We’re hiring! AWI is accepting applications for three full-time positions for individuals who share our vision of a world where no animal suffers because of humans. 🔸 Website Administrator: This position is responsible for implementing website pages with custom layouts and functionality, troubleshooting website issues, designing and developing websites for special campaigns and coalitions, and overseeing external web development work. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/euqB_QfN 🔸 Donor Relations Associate: This position is responsible for gift processing and acknowledgement, data accuracy, and donor relations. It requires problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, organization, and strong communication skills. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e797DG-g 🔸 Farmed Animal Science Fellow: This temporary, 1- to 2-year position will help develop and implement innovative legal, policy, and administrative efforts to protect aquatic and terrestrial farmed animals at the local, state, national, and international levels. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eyQCiDDm

In recognition of week 2 of #NationalPreparednessMonth, we will examine how best to keep you and your pets safe from winter storms, which heavily impact New England and the “Blizzard Alley” area of the upper Midwest. Prepare for severe weather ahead of time by: 🔹 Providing insulated shelter and/or windbreaks for farm animals, horses, and other pets who spend time outdoors to prevent hypothermia 🔹 Stocking extra pet food and potable water 🔹 Equipping animals with identification, such as labeled collars and microchips. Ensure the contact information on the ID tag and microchip registration is accurate and up to date, as missing or out-of-date information is a frequent barrier to reunification. During cold fronts, use plastic bowls/troughs instead of metal ones, as animal tongues can get stuck on frigid metal, and regularly check animals’ drinking water for ice formation. Learn more about emergency preparedness for animals: https://lnkd.in/ekCq6PHF 📷 : Janice

Nearly 10 billion farmed animals are bred, raised, and killed for food in the United States each year. However, on-farm protections for animals (excepting those raised to meet federal organic standards) are limited to a patchwork of laws enacted in 18 states. Thank you, Faunalytics, for publishing this article, written by AWI senior policy associate Adrienne Craig, about the enforcement of these state farmed animal welfare laws. AWI’s analysis reveals that these laws continue to be minimally enforced, even though such laws could substantially improve the lives of millions of animals each year. https://lnkd.in/edd655jj

September marks #NationalPreparednessMonth. Make sure your plans for keeping safe during natural disasters are current and include your pets. This week, we’ll review protocol for tropical severe weather, which often impacts coastal states. 🔸 BEFORE THE STORM: Make sure your pets are up to date on vaccinations, microchipped, and wearing collars with proper identification. If there is an evacuation order, have a “go-bag” ready, plan your evacuation route, and arrange pet-friendly lodging, as not all emergency shelters accept pets. 🔸 DURING THE STORM: Keep animals on the lowest level of your home and away from windows. If horses and farm animals can’t be evacuated, keep them in larger pastures on high ground with open-air shelter—never in a closed barn. 🔸 AFTER THE STORM: Keep animals away from downed power lines and contaminated water. Able and willing to help others? Consider volunteering for organizations that are setting up emergency shelters, providing resources for displaced pets, and rescuing stranded animals. AWI helped evacuate hundreds of dogs & cats following a hurricane in the Virgin Islands and has seen first-hand how unpredictable and destructive tropical storms can be. Preparedness plans for your family, including your pets, can save lives. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/exCcjcZs 📷: justoomm

Did you know that, since 2019, AWI has donated over 83,000 children’s books to literacy groups, humane societies, and other organizations around the world? This #InternationalLiteracyDay, join us in highlighting the importance of compassion for animals in our homes and environment. To find these free books, lesson plans on animal welfare, dissection alternatives, and more, visit AWI’s Teachers Pay Teachers site: https://lnkd.in/euQyZ37t What literature have you read that made you reflect on our responsibilities toward animals? Share it with us in the comments!

“I think that this [fur] trade is a roll of the dice. We’re exposing ourselves to viruses that come from wildlife, which is an obvious route [for the] next pandemic to occur.” - Dr. Eddie Holmes, evolutionary biologist and virologist at the University of Sydney. TAKE ACTION: This new study adds to the growing body of science demonstrating how dangerous fur farms can be—not only to animals, but also to #publichealth. Fur farms house animals in crowded, cruel environments that create an ideal setting for pathogens to circulate. Urge your federal representative to cosponsor the Mink VIRUS Act (H.R. 3783) to address the public health and animal welfare crises created by farming mink for their fur in the United States: https://lnkd.in/et2EX_-3 https://lnkd.in/eZ-97HrT

To conclude our series highlighting our partnership with People and Carnivores—an organization dedicated to preventing conflict between people and large carnivores in Montana—we're featuring projects on tribal lands to promote #carnivorecoexistence. In the past year, People and Carnivores has provided the Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance with educational materials and resources, including more than 100 bear safety kits. The Alliance works to help prevent future bear conflicts on the tribal lands of the Blackfeet Nation. To reduce bear conflicts on the Flathead Reservation, People and Carnivores partnered with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to provide residents with bear safety kits. People and Carnivores has also partnered with area orchard owners to educate workers on bear safety. AWI’s support of People and Carnivores has helped establish community-led bear safety initiatives on public, private, and tribal lands. By working with local leaders, we can create a long-lasting foundation for carnivore coexistence.

Today, AWI and a dozen other animal protection groups and equine rescues sent a letter to New York State Attorney General Letitia James urging the state to crack down on the sale of ejiao by online retailers and others to comply with a recent state law prohibiting horse slaughter and the sale of horseflesh for consumption. Ejiao (pronounced “eh-gee-yow”) is a gelatin made from boiling the hides of donkeys used in traditional Chinese remedies, supplements, food, and cosmetics. The US is the third largest importer of ejiao products, with an estimated $12 million worth of ejiao products imported each year. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e4rmUhKc

Today, we’re highlighting #carnivorecoexistence efforts in the Montana town of Alberton, where community members and the town council have worked together to start a Bear Smart Community initiative in consultation with a field technician working for People and Carnivores, funded in part by AWI. The Alberton Bear Smart Community initiative combines education and field project implementation. People and Carnivores has helped the group plan events such as fence-building demonstrations, conduct bear attractant assessments, and electrify chicken coops. Bear conflict prevention and safety materials are also now available to the public. Alberton will use these resources to bolster its bear management plan, which will help the effort gain momentum and ensure the longevity of local bear populations by promoting coexistence. 📷: People and Carnivores

Beginning to feel a chill in the air? While we’re enjoying the last days of summer, many bird species are well into their fall migration, traveling thousands of miles to their winter range. Tragically, 1.3 to 3.5 billion birds, at minimum, are estimated to die from collisions with windows each year in the United States—and these deaths spike each fall during migration. Birds do not perceive window glass as a solid barrier, often flying into panes at speeds of 20-30 mph, or more if being pursued by a predator. Collisions occur both during the day, when birds see the reflection of sky or outdoor foliage in windows, and at night, when they are drawn to lights inside homes. Read on for five approaches to help keep birds safe this migration season: 🔹 Window Decals: Apply window decals specifically designed to minimize bird collisions, placing them uniformly 2 inches apart across the entire outside window surface. 🔹 Zen Wind Curtains: Favored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, these ‘curtains’ can be purchased online, or you can make your own using paracord or other material. 🔹 Opaque and Patterned Window Film: These products can be applied directly to your windows, helping to reduce reflections from the outside for birds, while still allowing those inside to see out. 🔹 Tempera paint: Apply paint freehand or with stencils on the outside of windows, making patterns with spaces no more than 2 inches apart. 🔹 Minimize Light Pollution: Help reduce window strikes at night and keep birds on their migratory path by turning off any unnecessary outdoor lighting and closing your curtains and blinds. Closing curtains will not prevent daytime strikes. The following websites offer detailed information on these options, as well as links to vendors: 🔸 American Bird Conservancy (https://lnkd.in/eAbYCMeb) 🔸 National Audubon Society (https://lnkd.in/e45WZ5pM) 🔸 Fatal Light Awareness Project (https://lnkd.in/eW2Vxbij) 📷: Barn swallow by Mahmoud Yahyaoui