The Animal Legal Defense Fund files high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, provides free legal assistance and training to prosecutors in their fight against animal cruelty, supports animal protection legislation, and provides resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the field of animal law.

The Big Cat Public Safety Act would make it illegal for exhibitors (such as circuses and zoos) to allow direct contact with cubs, prohibit private individuals from possessing lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars, or any hybrid of these species as pets (people who have already own these animals before the bill will be able to keep their animals but would need to register them), prohibit public petting, playing with, feeding, and photo ops with cubs these acts commonly known as "Cub Petting". This legislation was reintroduced into the senate in April 2021 and passed in 2022, now as of December 2022, the bill is awaiting a signature from the president and can then be put into effect. The Netflix Show "Tiger King" has brought this issue to people’s attention here in the states.  However, America is not the only country dealing with similar issues.

We recommend that you check out this short video from CBS.

https://youtu.be/WCmV83zxvd8

This act has been passed into law as of December 2022. This act removes the requirement that new drugs need to be tested on animals, this overwrites the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 which had the requirement to have to test new drugs on animals. With our developments in drugs and medicine in the last 84, the need for animal testing is hugely reduced, and we are glad to see changes like this happening, which are big steps toward the direction of animal rights and safety! The bill has been linked below!

FDA Modernization Act and Reducing Animal Testing Act

This Act creates a Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority as a private self-regulatory organization. The Authority must develop rules related to horseracing, including anti-doping, medication control, and racetrack safety rules. 

There is a common way shark fins are acquired, known as "finning," in which live sharks have their fins cut off, after which the sharks are thrown back into the water to die from blood loss. The hunting of sharks for the purpose of taking their fins has been illegal in the United States for some time. However, selling shark fins is still perfectly legal; the market of shark fins in the united states encourages the international hunting of sharks for their fins. Thankfully, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act was passed through congress in December 2022 and has now gone to President Biden to sign into law. The bill makes it illegal to possess, buy, or sell shark fins or any product containing shark fins, except for certain dogfish fins. The possession of these would still be allowed as long as they were acquired in accordance with the law with a license or permit. Shark populations have been decreasing worldwide as they are killed at a rate faster than the population can recover from; it is estimated that 100 million sharks are killed each year due to finning. With this bill soon being signed into law, we can hope that we can see an effect on shark populations, and we hope that other countries around the world can follow suit to protect sea life.

A wildlife killing contest is a competition in which participants compete to kill the greatest number or largest animals of a particular species within a specified timeframe. These events are typically organized for various species, such as coyotes, foxes, bobcats, raccoons, and even wolves.

In the case of coyotes, these contests are especially popular, as they are often perceived as pests by farmers and ranchers. However, killing contests are typically indiscriminate, and any coyote, regardless of age or sex, can be targeted. The methods used to kill coyotes in these contests are often inhumane, including shooting, trapping, or using dogs to chase and kill them.

Wildlife killing contests are harmful for several reasons. They disrupt natural ecosystems by disrupting predator-prey relationships and altering population dynamics. The indiscriminate killing of coyotes can lead to unintended consequences, such as an increase in the population of prey species like rabbits and rodents, which can then lead to other problems like crop damage. These contests often promote a culture of violence and desensitization towards killing animals.

The contests are often criticized for their disregard for animal welfare. Many states and communities have begun to ban these contests in recent years, recognizing the negative impacts they can have on wildlife and the environment.