͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. To enact good laws, we must elect good lawmakers, and that’s why we remind voters which candidates care about our issues and which ones don’t. If you’d like to unsubscribe, click here. [[link removed]]

​# [#]
Puma Ends Purchasing of Kangaroo Skins for Soccer Cleats
Puma has announced it is shedding kangaroo skins for use in its soccer cleats. As the third largest athletic wear company in the world, its declaration gives an enormous shot in the arm to our Kangaroos Are Not Shoes [[link removed]] campaign and will have the immediate effect of further isolating New Balance and Adidas for their sourcing of wild-killed kangaroos for some shoe models.

“K-BETTER has proven to outperform the previous KING K-Leather in testing for touch, comfort, and durability,” Puma explained in making its cruelty-free pledge. Puma “is so convinced by the performance characteristics of K-BETTER that it will stop producing football boots [soccer cleats] with kangaroo leather altogether this year.”

Animal Wellness Action and its sister organization, the Center for a Humane Economy [[link removed]] , are promoting legislative bans on the sale of kangaroo skins in five states — Arizona [[link removed]] , Connecticut [[link removed]] , New Jersey [[link removed]] , Oregon [[link removed]] , and Vermont [[link removed]] . Lawmakers in other states are readying bills, along with measures to come in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. In California, we continue to investigate illegal sales of kangaroo-based shoes and to initiate court actions under the Unfair Business Practices Act to see that the state law banning trade in kangaroo parts is observed.

UPDATE: Nike has now agreed to follow Puma and eliminate kangaroo skins in its supply chain. We’ll report on that in detail in the March report.

READ MORE *
Puma
to
end
sale
of
shoes
made
from
hunted
kangaroos
(ktalnews.com)
[[link removed]]


FDA Modernization Act 2.0 Stirs Global Interest in Testing Alternatives
The global pharmaceutical industry now has the opportunity to wean itself away from massive animal testing programs, say regulators, scientists, and other stakeholders. This comes following the enactment at the end of 2022 of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0.

That bill reversed an 84-year federal animal-testing mandate for experimental drugs, and the passage of the law is widely viewed as a momentous gain in the effort to replace animal testing with 21st-century strategies. More than 60 articles on the progress have been published in authoritative magazines and journals in the United Sates, including Science Magazine [[link removed]] , Science Direct [[link removed]] , American Association for Cancer Research Journals [[link removed]] , and also in Korea [[link removed]] , Israel [[link removed]] , and Australia [[link removed]] , looking at what the changes may mean for the world of drug development.

“I strongly believe that if the U.S. can do it, we can do it, too — and make a success of it.” said a Member of Parliament [[link removed]] in the United Kingdom.

The impact of the new legislation is reverberating globally.

The Global MPS Day [[link removed]] will feature Moderna co-founder Dr. Robert Langer and Emulate organ-on-a-chip customers from Genentech, Incyte, Champions Oncology, the Ellison Institute, and QMUL. They will discuss “The FDA Modernization Act 20.0 is Signed into Law. Now What?” Another industry and NASDAQ-sponsored webinar, entitled “ FDA Modernization Act 2.0 — What Does It Mean for Drug Developers? [[link removed]] ” is scheduled for this month.

In related news, Charles River Laboratories (CRL), a supplier of non-human primates for research and testing, received a subpoena [[link removed]] regarding its imports of endangered wild-captured monkeys smuggled from Cambodia. The company’s stock dropped 10 percent overnight. CRL had a call with shareholders [[link removed]] on their earnings, with shareholders questioning the CEO about the impact of the FDA Modernization Act on the bottom line.

READ MORE *
FDA
no
longer
needs
to
require
animal
tests
before
human
drug
trials
|
Science
|
AAAS
[[link removed]]
*
The
FDA
modernisation
act
2.0:
Bringing
non-animal
technologies
to
the
regulatory
table
-
ScienceDirect
[[link removed]]


Landmark North American Investigation into Horse Slaughter Published
Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy and Animals’ Angels [[link removed]] kicked off a renewed legislative initiative to halt the slaughter of American horses throughout North America as a possible amendment to the 2023 Farm bill. The work comes as the groups released a detailed investigation [[link removed]] revealing that the extraterritorial slaughter of American horses is rapidly waning, but it’s still a merciless journey for its remaining 20,000 victims a year.

The report shows that horses used in racing and show rings or who work for police, on farms, and even as companions are opportunistically obtained by “kill buyers,” [[link removed]] kept in bare-minimum survival conditions at holding facilities, and then transported into Canada and Mexico for slaughter. At its worst, in 1990, about 350,000 were sent to the kill chutes.

Investigators reported on Presidio Export Pens on the border with Mexico; Bar S Feedlot in Montana near the border with Canada; New Holland Auction in southeast Pennsylvania; Knoxville Auction in Tennessee; Fabrizius Livestock in Eaton, Colorado; and Murphy’s Horse Auction in Mira Loma, California. The horses’ journey concludes at horse slaughter plants in Mexico or at one of the last two remaining plants in Canada — Bouvry Exports Ltd. in Alberta and Viande Richelieu in Massueville, Quebec.

“To suggest that the horse slaughter industry is, in any way, providing an important safety valve in controlling captive horse populations is akin to claiming that random acts of violence by street gangs are contributing to human population control,” said Center president Wayne Pacelle. “The killing, at present levels, has a negligible continent-wide effect on population size, and its practices are as coarse and cold-blooded as they come.”

Our blog [[link removed]] argues for an end to the slaughter of American horses throughout North America and highlights the elements of our national investigation. Our full investigative report is here. [[link removed]]

READ MORE *
How
U.S.
racehorses
end
up
on
dinner
plates
(nationalgeographic.com)
[[link removed]]
*
Colorado
horses
sent
to
foreign
slaughterhouses
for
human
consumption
(coloradosun.com)
[[link removed]]
*
Report:
Horses
sold
at
Iowa
auction
house
for
food
industry
mistreated
(desmoinesregister.com)
[[link removed]]
*
Landmark
Field
Investigation
of
Horse
Slaughter
in
North
(globenewswire.com)
[[link removed]]
*
2023
Report
on
North
American
Horse
Slaughter
-
Horse
Care
-
Chronicle
Forums
(chronofhorse.com)
[[link removed]]


End Cockfighting Campaign Steps Into High Gear
Our furious assault on animal fighting has focused on the top cockfighting states in the nation, with our release of investigations in Alabama [[link removed]] here [[link removed]] and here [[link removed]] , Kentucky [[link removed]] here [[link removed]] and here [[link removed]] , Oklahoma [[link removed]] here [[link removed]] and here [[link removed]] , Tennessee [[link removed]] here [[link removed]] and here [[link removed]] , and Mississippi [[link removed]] here. We’ve partnered with Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) on a number of these campaigns, and that organization is supplementing our investigations with its own strong investigations in the field, including identifying 16 illegal fighting pits in Kentucky and identifying a fighting derby in progress in Tennessee that [[link removed]] produced a raid [[link removed]] resulting in the arrest of 98 individuals. Even as we declared Oklahoma “the cockfighting capital of the U.S.,” cockfighters there have mounted a serious effort [[link removed]] to gut penalties for illegal cockfighting. Two of our spokespersons, former Attorney General Drew Edmondson and our Senior Veterinarian Tom Pool, wrote compelling columns for The Oklahoman [[link removed]] and The Tulsa World [[link removed]] . We have exposed a cockfighters’ political action committee [[link removed]] in print [[link removed]] and broadcast outlets. [[link removed]]

READ MORE *
Cockfighting
is
contemptible.
Oklahoma
laws
should
reflect
that.
(oklahoman.com)
[[link removed]]
*
Opinion:
Lessening
penalties
for
illegal
Oklahoma
cockfighters
has
international
effect
(tulsaworld.com)
[[link removed]]
*
Oklahoma
cockfighting
controversy
escalates
to
criminal
accusations
|
KTUL
[[link removed]]
*
Animal
welfare
groups
pushing
for
stricter
laws
against
cockfighting
in
Ala.
as
bird
flu
continues
to
spread
(wbrc.com)
[[link removed]]
*
Animal
rights
groups
say
cockfighting
contributes
to
avian
flu
outbreak
(kjrh.com)
[[link removed]]


Legislative Initiative Launched to Crack Down on Big Ag Slush Fund
We worked with lawmakers from both parties in both chambers to introduce the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, H.R. 1249 [[link removed]] / S. 557. [[link removed]]

The measure is designed to reform and bring accountability and transparency to reform the USDA’s Commodity Checkoff Programs that have long been plagued by scandal after scandal for misappropriation of funds, lack of transparency, and misusing farmer and rancher tax dollars and was first introduced in the 115th Congress.

Proponents of the OFF Act argue that national livestock trade associations work against the best interests of rank-and-file family farmers and work to benefit industrial agriculture and international processors. These trade associations have long lobbied against animal welfare policies in numerous areas of our work. Animal Wellness Action executive director Marty Irby is quoted here [[link removed]] in Rep. Mace’s press release, here [[link removed]] in Rep. Titus’ release, here [[link removed]] in Sen. Lee’s release, and here [[link removed]] in Sen. Booker’s release.

The act is led by U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Dina Titus, D-Nev., in the House and U.S. Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Cory Booker, D-N.J., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in the Senate.
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Animal Wellness Action
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