A federal court has delivered a decisive setback to efforts to dismantle California’s animal welfare laws, rejecting a U.S. Department of Justice challenge to the state’s series of cage-free policies for egg-laying hens. The ruling preliminarily stalls a Trump Administration offensive against the half-dozen states that forbid selling eggs from caged hens.

Nearly half of all eggs sold in the United States now come from hens in cage-free housing systems, up from just 5% 25 years ago. Animal Wellness Action and its sister organizations intervened in the case, as we’ve done with prior challenges to anti-gestation crate laws we’ve worked to pass. Coverage in the National Hog Farmer underscores the broader industry implications of the court’s decision, highlighting the continued legal and political battles over Proposition 12 and similar laws.

The battle over intensive confinement of farm animals is also front and center in Congress. The National Pork Producers Council and China’s Smithfield Foods are taking aim at state laws in California and Massachusetts that restrict the sale of pork from factory farms that confine the sows in gestation crates. The House Farm bill is expected to be taken up by the full U.S. House in April, and the committee-approved bill includes the Save Our Bacon Act to repeal the state’s landmark pig protection laws. We’ll need your active engagement to block this effort to preempt the state’s most consequential farm animal protection laws. Read Wayne Pacelle’s blog here.

FDA Modernization

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, under the leadership of visionary commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., is accelerating a long-overdue shift away from animal testing in drug development, advancing a more human-relevant and scientifically sound approach. New draft guidance recently issued encourages the use of cutting-edge methods—such as computational modeling and human cell-based systems—that can better predict how treatments will perform in people.

This move signals growing federal alignment around modernizing safety and efficacy testing and reducing reliance on outdated animal models that too often fail to translate to human outcomes. This shift has been triggered by our work to pass the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, which eliminated an 84-year-old animal-testing mandate, and set the stage for a revolution in drug screening. Read the story at Modernize Testing.

Protecting Bears

The deadline is April 9 — and we need your voice now. The federal government is considering a rollback that would allow bear baiting across millions of acres of national preserves in Alaska. This practice — luring bears with food so they can be shot at close range — is reckless, unsporting, and fundamentally at odds with the mission of the National Park Service. Go here NOW to post your comment.

Allowing baiting near or within parklands distorts wildlife behavior, increases bear-human conflicts, and undermines the integrity of protected areas. And baiting is only part of the threat: bears also face mounting pressure from poaching and illegal killing driven by black-market demand and weak enforcement.

Animal Wellness Action is working to confront both legal and illegal exploitation of bears and strengthen protections across the board. Take action now: read our blog here, submit your public comment here before the April 9 deadline, and urge lawmakers to support stronger federal protections for bears here.

Soaring, Not Suffering

Among dozens of other species, America’s iconic bald and golden eagles are suffering because hunters continue to disperse thousands of tons of lead ammunition in forests and fields all across America. When hunters use lead bullets, fragments scatter through carcasses and gut piles, which scavenging birds then consume — often with lethal consequences. More than 500 studies prove lead is deadly to wildlife and dangerous for consumers of wild-game meat. A landmark 2022 study in Science magazine, with dozens of state and federal wildlife managers as authors, shows that more than half of all eagles on the continent have acute levels of toxicity.

This week, a key committee in the Maryland House passed legislation to phase out lead ammunition, with the state on a potential path to become the second state to phase out the use of lead ammo in sport hunting. We also announced the filing of petitions with environmental protection agencies in New York and New Jersey to stop this mass poisoning of animals, people, and our landscapes and wetlands. Read about our petitions here and here.

There was a setback on this front, too. In what amounted to a nearly party-line vote, the U.S. House has passed H.R. 556, a bill designed to block federal land management agencies from restricting toxic lead ammunition, by a vote of 215 to 202. Nearly all House Republicans favored the bill, which is at the top of the NRA’s wish list, with all but seven Democrats opposing the effort to handcuff federal wildlife managers to stop the mass poisoning of wildlife. NJ Spotlight News examined the push to protect the continued use of lead bullets and fishing gear. Our focus now turns to the Senate, where we must stop the advance of this legislation. Please call your U.S. senators and use our Contact Congress platform to urge them to oppose H.R. 556.

MORE FROM ANIMAL WELLNESS ACTION

New Findings Raise Alarms About Care for America’s Military Working Dogs

Military working dogs are among the most highly trained and essential members of the U.S. armed forces — detecting explosives, securing installations, and saving the lives of American service members in combat zones around the world. But a growing body of evidence is raising serious concerns about how these animals are treated once they are off the front lines or in non-training status.

A new report, covered by regional and national media, including the DeSoto Tribune, details troubling conditions at U.S. military bases, where some dogs have been housed in aging, unsanitary kennels, exposed to extreme heat and mold, and deprived of adequate exercise and enrichment. A Pentagon Inspector General review found that many facilities were “aging and unsatisfactory,” with deficiencies that contributed to illness, stress behaviors, and even the deaths of multiple dogs in recent years.

In the new episode of the Animal Wellness Podcast, host Joseph Grove explores these findings in depth, joined by Dr. Thomas Pool, former commander of the U.S. Army Veterinary Command, and animal cruelty prosecutor Kate Chupka Schultz. Together, they examine the standards of care these animals require, where systemic breakdowns may be occurring, and what reforms are needed to ensure that military working dogs are treated not as expendable equipment, but as sentient partners in service. Listen to the episode here.
 

Animal Wellness Action 2025 Annual Report: A Year of Impact for Animals

In our newly released 2025 Annual Report, Animal Wellness Action details a year of strategic advocacy, legislative progress, and corporate engagement to advance a more humane economy. From driving federal policy reforms and challenging entrenched cruelty in agriculture and wildlife management to building coalitions that deliver measurable results, the report chronicles how focused advocacy is translating into real protections for animals.

The report highlights a growing national presence and influence in Washington and beyond, with campaigns designed not just to raise awareness, but to secure enforceable change — a model that continues to position Animal Wellness Action as a leading voice for animals in the political arena.

Explore the full report and see how your support is helping to drive lasting progress for animals. Read the report here.