Animal Welfare Institute

Students ages 14–18: Submissions are being accepted for the 35th annual “A Voice for Animals” essay contest, sponsored by AWI and Humane Education Network! Now through May 31, submit essays, videos, or photo essays that explore ways to prevent animal suffering and protect vulnerable species. Open to students worldwide. Winning entries receive cash prizes. Learn more at hennet.org/contest.php

This #WorldAquaticAnimalDay, let’s dive into the issues marine wildlife face in increasingly degraded ocean habitats. Human actions, including energy and coastal development, pollution, human-caused noise, increased vessel traffic, and industrial fisheries, have created a dire situation for many marine species. Under the current administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is facing massive layoffs and budget cuts despite its vital role protecting marine wildlife and monitoring the changing climate. These actions are undermining NOAA’s ability to enforce laws such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, which safeguard scores of dolphin, whale, shark, seal, turtle, and other marine species. TAKE ACTION: The marine environment and its inhabitants are not infinitely resilient. Without proper oversight of monitoring and protection programs and diligent enforcement of vital protection laws, vulnerable species could be lost forever. Use AWI’s Action Center to write your members of Congress and urge them to defend NOAA against political attacks: awionline.org/DefendNOAA 📷 : Mark Sullivan, NOAA

A new paper led by authors at OceanCare and co-authored by AWI marine mammal biology senior scientist Dr. Naomi A. Rose has just been published in the peer-reviewed journal Marine Policy. The paper documents increasing cases of walruses, whales, and seals appearing outside their natural habitat—a trend likely accelerated by human impacts and a changing climate—and highlights specific recommendations to better prepare for and manage these cases to protect both animal welfare and human safety. Read the paper here: https://lnkd.in/ezYn5Wid

Celebrate the final day of #NationalCraftingMonth by making DIY bird feeders for the native birds in your community! Birds need steady food sources to survive the cold weather, feed their young, and fuel up for their spring migrations. Making one of these three simple feeders is a great way to learn more about and support your local wildlife. 🔹 Live near pine trees? You can use pinecones, peanut butter, bird seed, and string to create inexpensive feeders that are easily composted. Learn more about these feeders from Audubon Southwest: https://lnkd.in/enPa3gWp 🔹 You can also make bird seed “cookies” in an oven with cookie cutters, bird seed, agar, string, and skewers. While watching birds devour these cookies, you can learn to identify bird species and teach participants about the role they play in ecosystems. View instructions here: https://lnkd.in/ef-auZib 🔹 A third style of bird feeder involves helping backyard critters and “upcycling”—a perfect combination! Use a medium-sized plastic container (e.g., for milk, juice, or yogurt), string, and wooden dowels or spoons to create a feeder that lets birds perch while eating bird seed. Crafters of all ages can also creatively decorate their containers with nontoxic paint and markers! Watch an instructional video here: https://lnkd.in/eRSMEhK7 These bird feeders can help migrating bird species that are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, light pollution, and building collisions. Learn more about crafts to protect birds and other terrestrial wildlife on our website: https://lnkd.in/exaFGR-d 📷: Patrice Bouchard

This #NationalCraftingMonth, join us in making some paws-itively fun crafts for all ages! Today, we’re highlighting DIY dog toys for our furry companions—at home and in local shelters—and sharing one of our humane education resources to help children learn about treating dogs with compassion and responsibility through classroom crafts. Our children’s book “Pablo Puppy’s Search for the Perfect Person” follows a puppy and older dog in a shelter and shares a message about the value of humane treatment toward animals. It is available in both English and Spanish and accompanied by free lesson plans and coloring pages tailored to early elementary students. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gBjWaMXB To make tennis ball braid toys for dogs like Pablo, all you need are tennis balls and scraps of fabric/rope. Here is one method for assembling these durable toys: https://lnkd.in/eYiE_DG4 Although dogs are often an integral part of our families and communities, kindness toward companion animals is not universal. Millions of dogs across the US are born in inhumane puppy mills—where profits take priority over welfare—or are chained in yards with little reprieve from the elements. By incorporating humane education into lesson plans, club meetings, educational programming, and more, we can help students understand the challenges companion animals face. Happy crafting—your dog and/or dogs in nearby shelters will thank you! 📷: m01229

This #NationalCraftingMonth, try your hand at creating birdhouses, bat houses, and butterfly baths to support the critters in your backyards and local parks! These crafts are fun for all ages and help educate others about the important role of pollinators in our communities. You might know that bees are pollinators—but did you know that birds, bats, and butterflies are, too? When these species feed on nectar, a sugary fluid produced by plants, they also collect and spread pollen. This helps more plants grow! Scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of pollinators. However, many pollinator species are in trouble due to habitat loss, pesticides, disease, parasites, and a lack of native, pollinator-friendly plants. 🐦Choosing which birdhouse to build depends on which bird species live in your area and what your natural spaces look like. Make sure to clean them out after each season to prevent disease spread. Take a look at a collection of birdhouse craft instructions here: https://lnkd.in/eBpc7ymp 🦇 Bat houses are typically built on tall poles. By adding a bat house and attracting bats to your yard, you may benefit by having fewer mosquitoes—a favorite food of many bats! Learn more about attracting bats and building them a space to live: https://lnkd.in/gUVUpC-F 🦋 Finally, you can attract butterflies to your yard by providing them with a butterfly bath! Butterflies like to gather around these “puddles,” especially during dry periods, as they help provide important nutrients. Sculpting or decorating a shallow dish and filling it with water or overripe fruit can attract multiple butterfly species. Check out more details: https://lnkd.in/ee5kae3t Learn more about actions you can take to help wildlife on our website: https://lnkd.in/exaFGR-d 📷: Kevin Blanzy

Get crafty for animals this #NationalCraftingMonth! We’ll be sharing a series of animal-friendly activities for all ages over the next few days to benefit companion animals like dogs and cats, as well as local wildlife like birds, bats, and butterflies. Our first two crafts are cozy beds and cat scratchers for cats in animal shelters! While in a shelter, cats are often surrounded by concrete and hard surfaces and will appreciate donations of nice, soft cat beds and satisfying scratchers. Completing these no-sew crafts with community groups, such as scout troops or school clubs, is a great way to promote humane education and compassion for animals. To make your own cat beds, you’ll need two 18- to 24-inch squares of fleece or soft fabric. You can often find these materials in your own home or at low cost in your local secondhand store. View a video tutorial explaining how to make these blankets: https://lnkd.in/eQ8nPSuM To make your own cat scratchers, you’ll need cardboard boxes, scrap paper and/or fabric, and masking/duct tape or nontoxic glue. View a video tutorial explaining how to make a cat scratcher: https://lnkd.in/eTS27V-u Stay tuned for additional animal-friendly crafting ideas! And visit our website to learn more about what you can do for animals: https://lnkd.in/edgip6qf 📷: echilds41

Have you heard of the Atlantic humpback dolphin? This #DolphinAwarenessMonth, we’re working to raise awareness of this little-known species. These dolphins live exclusively in shallow waters off the coast of West Africa, feeding on mullet and other nearshore fish. They swim in small “pods” and prefer habitats heavily influenced by tidal patterns, such as estuaries, deltas, and mangrove systems. However, fewer than 3,000 remain. The main threats Atlantic humpback dolphins face are human related. Local fisheries deplete their main source of prey and use gillnets that can entangle dolphins. And more and more, this social species must “shout” to communicate over the marine noise that accompanies increasing coastal development. Last year, in a promising step forward for the species’ recovery, the National Marine Fisheries Service issued a final rule to list the Atlantic humpback dolphin as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as requested in a petition filed by AWI and allies. While new ESA-based protections from the US government can help this imperiled species, it is important to continue to shine a light on Atlantic humpback dolphins and the ongoing threats they face. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eSpnY44b 📷: Tilen Genov, Consortium for the Conservation of the Atlantic Humpback Dolphin

AWI is excited to return to the annual National Science Teaching Association National Conference on Science Education March 26-29 in Philadelphia! Our books, flyers, and other humane education materials help instill a greater respect for animals in students of all ages. Find us at booth 912! #NSTA25

Today, AWI is celebrating one of the ocean’s most gentle and peaceful creatures—the manatee! #ManateeAppreciationDay is a reminder that these “sea cows” need protected habitat where they can rest, raise their young, and graze on seagrass. Currently, the West Indian manatee is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but earlier this year, the government proposed listing the manatee's two subspecies—the Florida manatee and the Antillean manatee—as threatened and endangered, respectively. Manatees are threatened by habitat degradation due to unchecked pollution, loss of food sources, vessel and propeller strikes, and more. Alarmingly, Florida manatees are currently experiencing a significant die-off, termed an “unusual mortality event,” or UME, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The UME has been attributed to poor water quality and starvation due to seagrass loss throughout parts of their habitat. In 2024, 565 manatees (including 154 calves) died, and at least 230 manatees have died already this year. In recent years, AWI grantees of our annual Christine Stevens Wildlife Award have conducted research projects to help inform protections for manatees:  In 2024, a group of researchers studied the negative impacts of boat-based ecotourism on Antillean manatees. The researchers found these manatees are exposed to high volumes of boat noise for up to 10 hours a day, which disrupts their ability to forage and communicate, including in critical habitat for cow/calf pairs. In 2021, a scientist from Syracuse University studied how levels of vessel traffic experienced by manatees change their behavior. The study found that Florida manatees experienced up to one close encounter with motorized boats per hour, disrupting their feeding behaviors and eliciting a flight response. TAKE ACTION: Write to your members of Congress and urge them to help protect manatees and other threatened marine mammals by defending the Marine Mammal Protection Act from legislative attacks: https://lnkd.in/eQK9Gebv 📷 : NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration