This year, we were on the front lines, fighting and righting wrongs so that change is possible. Looking back, we are so grateful for our members’ support because it enabled us to:
● File a lawsuit to halt the Bureau of Land Management’s Ten-Year Wild Horse Roundup decision that authorizes rounding up and permanently removing approximately 9,525 wild horse from Antelope and Triple B wild horse complexes in Nevada. The plan also authorizes years of further roundups, forcibly drugging mares with fertility control and castrating stallions, some of whom will be returned to the range.
● Give bison a chance at Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections. A federal judge ruled in a case argued by Friends of Animals that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illegally denied ESA protections for the Yellowstone National Park bison population. This moves bison back in the queue for full and fair consideration under the ESA.
●Win a victory for Idaho’s wild horses. The BLM withdrew its October 2017 decision to roundup 150 horses from the Challis Herd Management Area. The BLM tried to get away with not allowing the public to provide comment during the decision-making process, a violation of the National Environmental Protection Act.
● Defeat a bear trophy hunt bill in Connecticut. FoA took out ads in Connecticut newspapers and testified at the public hearing, pointing out that there have been zero fatal bear attacks in the state, but there have been 10 humans killed by hunters and 114 injured since 1982, according to data obtained by a Freedom of Information request.
●Deliver a victory to Mexican gray wolves, who have been pushed to the brink of extinction by hunters and the ranching industry. A federal judge ruled in favor of FoA, WildEarth Guardians, Western Environmental Law Center and New Mexico Wild declaring that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has not done enough to protect the Mexican gray wolf.
●Win a legal victory for the yellow-billed cuckoo. The settlement, filed Dec. 21 in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, sets an Aug. 5, 2020 deadline for designating habitat for the bird, of which there may be as few as 500 pairs north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
●File a lawsuit to protect Utah prairie dogs from eradication. A change in federal policy would allow the removal and killing of thousands of threatened Utah prairie dogs to appease a relentless local drive for development.
● Call upon NYC, one of the big four fashion capitals, to ban the sale of fur. FoA’s legislation would prohibit the sale, offering for sale, display for sale, trade, gifting, donation or other distribution of fur products within the city. San Francisco, Berkeley and West Hollywood have already gone fur-free and Los Angeles is considering a ban.
●Launch a new ad campaign, “Freedom is Under Attack in America,” which includes print ads and videos, to raise awareness of the plight of America’s wild horses, who are being wiped out by the Bureau of Land Management to placate cattle and sheep ranchers and energy interests who view wild horses as pests.
● Protect Oregon’s wild horses. FoA achieved a victory for Three Fingers wild horse herd and filed a lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to move forward with its Warm Spring’s mare sterilization experiment and 10-year management plan.
●Fight for overdue protections for the scarlet macaw. FoA won a lawsuit against FWS for failing to act on a petition to have two populations of the scarlet macaw listed under the Endangered Species Act.
● Take action to end the commodification of elephants. FoA has petitioned U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to amend the Endangered Species Act to include greater restrictions on trade of elephant skins and other body parts. In the U.S., African elephant skin products other than ivory can still be imported without a permit.
Can we count on your help us as we head into 2019? Wildlife and critical habitat protection will once again be at the core of our animal advocacy in the months ahead.
Please make a donation today and consider being a monthly donor—a way to make your gift stretch throughout the year. With your donation, you’ll also receive another year of Action Line — our quarterly magazine, which highlights our current work and offers our readers a fascinating look at diverse topics related to animals and the ways all of us can take action to help them.
Thank you, again, for your commitment to the work we do at Friends of Animals. Truly, we thank you.