Dear friend,
As part of the Animal Legal Defense Fund community, you’ve helped make important progress for animals this month, while continuing the fight to bring justice and protection to animals facing cruelty! Here are a few of the highlights:
Victory! Animal Research Whistleblower Wins Free-Speech Case
As a former caregiver at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's primate research laboratory, whistleblower and animal advocate Madeline Krasno had seen the monkeys' suffering up close. She was determined to speak out but the public university, which receives significant state and federal government funding, was preventing her critical comments from being visible to other followers of its Facebook and Instagram accounts. In our lawsuit representing Krasno, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that UW-Madison's use of “keyword blocking” to censor criticism of animal experiments violated her First Amendment rights — a major victory for animal advocates’ freedom of speech.
Lawsuit Filed! Challenging a California Climate Program’s Support for Factory Farms
A California environmental program called the Low Carbon Fuel Standard was created to help the climate and communities within the state. But instead, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which administers the program, is prioritizing dairy-industry profits over effective, equitable climate action. The dairy industry is not only inhumane to cows and calves, but also causes major environmental damage. CARB is actively incentivizing the production of factory farm biogas, methane that is captured as it’s released from huge, environmentally harmful pits of manure on factory farms, and rewarding some of the state’s biggest polluters for the climate havoc they wreak. With a coalition of environmental and environmental-justice organizations, ALDF filed a lawsuit against CARB — our second lawsuit against the agency.
Take Action! Support a Ban on Inhumane Horse-Drawn Carriages in NYC
A 15-year-old horse named Lady, part of New York City’s controversial horse-drawn carriage industry, collapsed and died earlier this month. The tragedy has renewed the call for the New York City Council to pass “Ryder’s Law” to end the horse-drawn carriage industry in the city. The bill is named for Ryder, an elderly, emaciated horse who collapsed while being forced to pull a carriage in the brutal summer sun in 2022. Sadly, Ryder died a few months later. The carriage industry is rife with inhumane treatment, injuries, and death.
With a large and diverse coalition, we're calling for the city council to pass Ryder’s Law. Want to take action? Whether you're a NYC resident or not, your voice is needed — take action today!
Animal Law Conference: Join Us in October!
Coming up in October, the 33rd annual Animal Law Conference is a momentous event in the fields of animal law and advocacy. Taking place in Chicago with the option to attend virtually, the conference brings together leading experts to discuss important topics such as The Role of Media in Animal Advocacy (featuring journalists from Vox, Sentient, and Pratt Institute); Factory Farming and the Fight for Enforcement; Free Speech and Animal Activism; and much more! The Animal Law Conference is co-presented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School. The conference is open to all animal advocates, but continuing legal education credits are available for attorneys. Learn more, explore the agenda, meet our speakers, and register today!
Help Stop the Violence
Tens of thousands of animals across the country are suffering unimaginable pain, forced into violent fights for profit and so-called “entertainment.” Your support helps push for stronger laws to that ensure that prosecutors can bring charges against everyone involved in animal fighting. But we can't take on this vicious industry without your help. Are you ready to be a hero for animals today?
... And One More Thing
Animal protection news can be heavy, so it’s important to re-center why we do the work we do: because animals should be able to live their lives free from pain and fear. Join us in celebrating Bleu Boi, a pig who was bred to be experimented on and spent the first part of his life in a research lab. With our sanctuary partners, ALDF was able to help Bleu Boi and seven other pigs find happy new lives in reputable sanctuaries last year. Here he is loving life at the Friends of Ferdinand sanctuary in California, where he gets to root in the soil and enjoy other pig-friendly pursuits, as all pigs should. (New Life Animal Sanctuary, which specializes in rescuing animals from research labs, also played a significant role in securing the pigs’ release.)
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