VegDems

10/08/2026

"Interior Lawyer Quit Rather Than Abandon Endangered Wildlife
When a veteran conservative attorney quits the Interior Department rather than defend what it is doing to America’s environmental laws, we should pay attention.

John Murdock spent 18 years working for the Department of the Interior. A self-described conservative Christian, he recently resigned in protest, warning of what he called a “deeply troubling assault on the rule of law.”

Among the actions that pushed him to leave: the Trump administration’s treatment of the Endangered Species Act and its aggressive expansion of offshore oil and gas development.

Earlier this year, a committee of Trump administration officials granted Gulf oil and gas operations an exemption from key Endangered Species Act requirements. Murdock singled out what that could mean for the Rice’s whale — one of the most endangered whales on Earth and a species known to reside only in the Gulf.

These whales are already fighting for survival. Their habitat overlaps with some of the Gulf’s busiest industrial waters, leaving them vulnerable to vessel strikes, underwater noise, oil spills, and other threats.

The Endangered Species Act exists precisely because animals pushed this close to extinction cannot afford for their survival to become an afterthought.

Murdock also objected to the Interior Department’s handling of a massive Gulf oil and gas lease sale. The administration determined that key environmental safeguards, including National Environmental Policy Act review and a provision of the Endangered Species Act, did not apply at the lease-sale stage. Environmental groups have challenged that decision in court.

This is bigger than one employee’s resignation or one drilling decision.

The Interior Department oversees hundreds of millions of acres of public lands and waters and plays an enormous role in determining the fate of America’s wildlife. Its responsibility is not simply to make land and ocean available for development. It is also to protect the animals and ecosystems entrusted to its care.

Wildlife cannot defend the laws written to protect them. We must.

Please sign the petition urging Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to uphold and enforce the Endangered Species Act and other environmental safeguards, and ensure that oil and gas development does not come at the expense of endangered wildlife."

When a veteran conservative attorney quits the Interior Department rather than defend what it is doing to America’s environmental laws, we should pay attention. John Murdock spent 18 years working for the Department of the Interior. A self-described conservative Christian, he recently resigned in ...

10/08/2026

GREAT NEWS: SELC took legal action on behalf of local residents and just reached a settlement that prohibits data centers across a majority of the ACE Basin in Colleton County, South Carolina, including a massive 850-acre, $6 billion data center proposal.

This newly protected area is home to some of the most ecologically sensitive areas along the three major rivers that form the basin: the Ashepoo, the Combahee, and the Edisto.

This 1.6-million-acre watershed is steeped in rich history and diverse Lowcountry culture that also serves as prime habitat for waterfowl, migratory birds, and endangered species.

This victory shows us what we can accomplish when we work together with communities across the South.

Data centers are rapidly expanding across our region, and SELC is working alongside communities to ensure this growth doesn’t come at the expense of clean air, clean water, wildlife, and the people who call the South home.

Photo by J Henry Fair

10/08/2026

Petco still sells live animals — reptiles, birds, small mammals, and fish — often sourced from breeding operations called mills with little to no oversight. 🐠🦎🐦

The reality behind the sale:
📦 Animals bought on impulse, not with the preparation their care actually requires
🏠 Kept in cramped, high-stress enclosures, prone to injury and illness from mishandling
🐟 Fish alone die in staggering numbers — both in-store and shortly after purchase

Animals are not merchandise. They're individuals with their own needs, preferences, and capacity to suffer — and Petco has the power to lead the industry away from a model that treats them otherwise.

We're calling on Petco to:
✅ End the in-store sale of all live animals
✅ Redirect that retail space toward shelter and rescue adoption partnerships
✅ Publicly commit to a timeline for the transition

✍️ Sign the petition at vfar.org/petco and tell Petco: stop selling live animals.

09/22/2026

This is something we can all support!

More members of Congress are calling for a permanent end to the export of American horses to Mexico for slaughter.

Six House Republicans have sent President Trump a new letter asking him to make the current restriction permanent, joining an earlier appeal from 17 House Republicans.

Their push comes as the United States responds to confirmed cases of New World screwworm, a dangerous parasite whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals. USDA currently lists equine exports to Mexico among the animal exports halted in response to the outbreak.

According to the lawmakers’ letter, roughly 20,000 American horses were shipped across the southern border for slaughter last year.

The lawmakers argue that the current disease-related restriction should become permanent, citing animal welfare, disease risks, and illegal cross-border animal movements.

The temporary halt has already stopped these shipments. Now Congress and the administration are debating whether that halt should become permanent.

08/22/2026

Over 200 horses have lost their lives on US racetracks this year.

Of the 91 racetracks, Belmont Park in New York recorded the third highest number of deaths with 12, Santa Anita Park in California is second with 13 deaths, while three tracks are currently tied for the deadliest of 2026 with 18 deaths each – Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, Saratoga Harness in New York, and Parx Racing in Pennsylvania. 79 horses have died at just these five tracks since the beginning of the year.

The death toll is also rising in the UK. Six-year-old racehorse Cueros was euthanized after suffering a broken leg in a fall during the Grosnez Handicap at Les Landes Racecourse in Jersey.

Contact your local representatives and urge them to support legislation to protect horses.

Thank you, Animal Defenders International

08/21/2026

Strengthening Enforcement of our National Animal Fighting Law

"Thank you for supporting the FIGHT Act — a commonsense, bipartisan measure to stop some of the worst forms of animal cruelty still happening in the shadows. Dogfighting and cockfighting remain illegal in every state, yet they continue underground, intertwined with gambling, drugs, and violence. The FIGHT Act closes loopholes that allow these crimes to persist, banning online gambling and mail shipments of fighting animals, empowering citizens to aid enforcement, and strengthening property forfeiture provisions.

Congress should also advance the complementary No Flight, No Fight Act, which targets another major trafficking pipeline by prohibiting commercial airlines from transporting fighting birds destined for the global cockfighting trade. Together, these measures attack the criminal networks that profit from organized animal fighting on the ground, through the mail, and in the air."

08/19/2026

"Brooke Rollins, head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on Tuesday filed a rule to rescind “in its entirety” the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibits road construction, logging and mining on about 30% of lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service, mostly in forested areas of the West. Rollins had last year filed a notice of intent that the agency was considering “rolling back” some protections under the rule.

The Roadless Rule is intended to protect wildlife, watersheds and old-growth forests from human development and human-caused wildfires. But in her announcement, Rollins said she was rescinding the rules on nearly 45 million acres under the banner of wildfire prevention, saying the protections instead have led to “overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease” that have turned “healthy landscapes into tinderboxes.”

Rollins’ assertions are not borne out by research, including from Oregon State University Professor Chris Dunn, a forest ecologist and wildfire expert. Dunn and his colleagues found that most wildfires in Western national forests between 1984 and 2018 started near roads, showing an increased likelihood of wildfires where roads exist because the No. 1 cause of wildfires is people.

Abigail Dillen, president of the nonprofit environmental legal group Earthjustice, said in a statement that the group will likely sue to stop the rule changes from moving forward."

The Trump administration will move ahead with plans to end more than 25 years of sweeping protections for tens of millions of wild, federally managed acres across the U.S.

08/17/2026

"Time and again, people who commit violence against partners, children, elderly people, and others are found to have histories of abusing animals. In fact, studies show that 70% of convicted animal abusers commit another crime, and nearly 40% go on to commit violent crimes against people.

Those numbers should be a wake-up call.

Yet animal cruelty is often underreported and under-investigated. And many communities simply don’t have the resources, training, or programs they need to intervene effectively.

We can do better—for animals and for people.

That’s why Congress must pass the bipartisan Animal Violence Exposes Real Threat of (AVERT) Future Violence Act.

The AVERT Future Violence Act would direct the Justice Department to study the connection between animal cruelty and future violence, including the risk factors associated with animal abuse and which interventions can help prevent further harm.

But it wouldn’t stop at studying the problem.

The bill would also authorize $2 million annually in grants to support mental health professionals, law enforcement, and animal welfare organizations working to stop animal cruelty and rehabilitate offenders.

That means giving communities more tools to recognize warning signs, intervene earlier, and prevent animals—and potentially people—from becoming victims.

No animal should have to endure cruelty while warning signs are ignored. And communities shouldn’t have to wait until violence moves from animals to people to take those warning signs seriously.

Animal cruelty inflicts fear, pain, and suffering on animals who depend on us for protection. When taking that cruelty seriously can also help prevent further violence, the case for acting early is even stronger."

Animal cruelty is horrifying on its own. But it can also be a warning sign of violence against people. Time and again, people who commit violence against partners, children, elderly people, and others are found to have histories of abusing animals. In fact, studies show that 70% of convicted animal....

07/17/2026

07/16/2026

Please sign and send.

"The SPARE Act (HR 1802) is an essential piece of legislation that would mark a historic shift in federal research policy by prioritizing humane, human-relevant scientific methods while significantly reducing the use and abuse of animals in federally funded experimentation. "

NAVS is a leading voice for Anti-Vivisection Advocacy