Dear Friends, You are invited to a landmark animal protection and law event in South Africa (and online)! Join us for a first-of-its-kind event in South Africa, a Colloquium on ‘Transforming Animal Protection Legislation in South Africa: A Constitutional Imperative’. 📅 Dates: 5 & 6 May 2025 🕘 Time: 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM SAST (both days) 📍 Online & In-person [Zoom & @University of Johannesburg, Kerzner Building] This 2-day hybrid colloquium brings together a powerful network of legal minds, government representatives, scientists, civil society leaders, judges, prosecutors, veterinarians, academics, activists and members of the public to chart a bold new course for animal protection in the country, grounded in our progressive Constitution and in pursuit of achieving inclusive justice.  Co-hosted by Animal Law Reform South Africa (ALRSA), Humane World for Animals Africa and the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC) [collectively the Animal Law Project], it offers a critical platform to engage with and advocate for transformative animal law reform. Why This Matters: The South African government, through the Department of Agriculture, is currently overhauling the regulatory regime for animals through the drafting of a new ‘Animal Welfare Bill’. The existing animal ‘protection’ regime consists of antiquated laws, some 90 years old, passed during the abhorrent system of apartheid, and which are not aligned with our new constitutional ethos. Nearly a decade ago, South Africa’s Constitutional Court affirmed that animals are sentient beings with intrinsic value and connected human rights to the protection of animal interests - yet, the law has not been updated with this approach. As government initiates work on this new bill, it is critical that they develop a law that recognises these issues and developments.  This Colloquium builds on the Animal Law Project’s widely-endorsed ‘Manifesto for Transformin

Animal Outlook appealed the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Civil Division's dismissal of its lawsuit against the American Heart Association under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act, alleging that, in exchange for a fee, AHA allows companies to display its "Heart-Check" mark on certain meat products and market them as “heart healthy”--counter to its own prior statements about the effects on cardiovascular health of consuming those products. The lawsuit also alleges that AHA promotes its Heart-Check certification program as using standards more stringent than the government’s standards for beef, when, in fact, AHA only uses the government’s minimum standards.

Following a tip from a concerned supporter, our Freedom of Information Act request uncovered grim details of the mass culling of 100,000 birds killed with carbon dioxide foam and survivors having their necks broken with a "Koechner Euthanizing Device." The story was published this week in The New York Post.   Before this mass culling, Crescent Duck Farm supplied 4% of America's duck meat while polluting the North Fork area with the unmistakable stench of factory farming.  Animal Outlook is reaching out to Crescent through our Farm Transitions program, offering support to shift from animal agriculture to sustainable crop production, which would create a win for animals, the environment, and the local community. This approach exemplifies our commitment not just to exposing cruelty, but to offering practical solutions for a more compassionate food system. Thanks to John Di Leonardo of Humane Long Island for sharing local wisdom and connections.