Friends of Animals (FoA) is a non-profit international animal advocacy organization, established in New York City in 1957, working to free animals around the world from cruelty and institutionalized exploitation. [1] The organization's headquarters is in Darien, Connecticut, with an additional office in Colorado. [1]
The organization was founded by Alice Herrington in 1957, to protect cats and dogs. "To that end it offered low-cost spaying and neutering services to cut down the number of strays across the country. The organization eventually built its own clinic for this in Neptune, N.J." [2] The organization states that it has assisted in more than 2.5 million spay/neuter procedures. [3]
The organization soon widened its activities to preserve animals in general, including wildlife, marine mammals and zoo animals. Ms. Herrington led the organization until retiring in 1986. [3] The current president is Priscilla Feral. [1]
In 1981, the organization lobbied with United Action for Animals for the introduction in Congress of the Research Modernization Act. This bill sought to develop alternatives to animal testing in research, along with the development of a National Center for Alternatives Research. [4] The bill was ultimately defeated. Animal law professor Gary Francione expressed the view that the bill was opposed by almost all institutional users of animals, because they believed it would require a diversion of funds from animal experiments. [5]
In 2006, the organization came to the defense of operators of Primarily Primates, a sanctuary near San Antonio, Texas, that housed "hundreds of chimpanzees, monkeys and other animals that had outlived their usefulness as research subjects, movie props or pets." [6] After People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals made unsubstantiated, false allegations to the Texas Attorney General that were later dismissed, control of the sanctuary was temporarily put into the control of a receiver by way of an emergency injunction. Friends of Animals paid the legal bills of Primarily Primates, who were trying to get control back of their sanctuary. [6] The Texas Attorney General asked Priscilla Feral, Friends of Animals' president to establish a new board of directors, and on May 1, 2007, returned the sanctuary to Feral who serves as PPI's voluntary president of the board. Friends of Animals manages the sanctuary as a project with a $1.1 million budget in 2018, a staff of 16 and one full-time veterinarian to assure the highest standards and animal care possible. The sanctuary houses 347 primates, birds and other animals including three rescued wild horses. [7]
In 2013, the organization established a Wildlife Law Program, focusing on the defense of wildlife and their habitats throughout the world. FoA's Wildlife Law Program works at putting an end to animals being treated as property within the legal system, and along with winning 12 legal challenges to protect wild horses from government roundups, has secured Endangered Species Act protections for birds and other animals.
In August 2014, the Wildlife Law Program challenged federal agencies at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for killing protected Snowy Owls and other migratory birds. The lawsuit argues that the agencies did not disclose the scope and impacts of the bird-reduction program or “discuss all reasonable alternatives to lethal” options, as they were required to do. [8]
Even before the program was established, the organization worked through the legal system to protect the rights of animals. In 2005, many species of endangered African antelopes living on US ranches were listed as endangered as a result of a lawsuit by the organization. However, an exemption for captive breeding programs thwarted the move. In 2009, a further lawsuit resulted in a finding that the exemption was unlawful, restoring the protection against hunting the antelopes. [9]
An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.
Trap–neuter–return (TNR), also known as trap–neuter–release, is a controversial method that attempts to manage populations of feral domestic cats. The process involves live-trapping the cats, having them spayed or neutered, ear-tipped for identification and, if possible, vaccinated, then releasing them back into their territory. If the location is deemed unsafe or otherwise inappropriate, the cats may be relocated to other appropriate areas. Ideally, friendly adults and kittens young enough to be easily socialized are retained and placed for adoption. Feral cats cannot be socialized, shun most human interaction and do not fare well in confinement, so they should not be retained. Cats suffering from severe medical problems such as terminal, contagious, or untreatable illnesses or injuries, are often euthanized.
Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products, for recreation ("sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, though most are mammals and birds. Fish caught non-commercially are also referred to as game fish.
A feral cat or a stray cat is an un-owned domestic cat that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens of generations and become an aggressive local apex predator in urban, savannah and bushland environments. Some feral cats may become more comfortable with people who regularly feed them, but even with long-term attempts at socialization, they usually remain aloof and are most active after dusk.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an animal law advocacy organization. Its stated mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. It accomplishes this by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are punished for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law. In addition to their national headquarters in Cotati, California, the Animal Legal Defense Fund maintains an office in Portland, Oregon.
A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals even when the shelter is full, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals or those considered dangerous to public safety. A no-kill shelter uses many strategies to promote shelter animals; to expanding its resources using volunteers, housing and medical protocols; and to work actively to lower the number of homeless animals entering the shelter system. 10% of animals can be killed in a no-kill shelter and still be considered a no-kill shelter.
The San Francisco SPCA is an animal shelter, a spay/neuter clinic, and a full-service public animal hospital located in San Francisco.
Primarily Primates (PPI) is a non-profit organization in Bexar County, Texas, that operates an animal sanctuary, housing 347 non-human primates and a variety of other birds and animals released from use in entertainment, research, or as rescues from the exotic pet trade. The organization was founded by Wallace (Wally) Swett in 1978, who ran the facility until 2006, when the Texas attorney general took control of it after allegations that were dismissed that the facility was an unfit place for animals. It has since been passed to new management, and operates in 2018, with a $1.1 million dollar budget. Primarily Primates employs 16 people for management and care staff, and a full-time veterinarian to assure high standards, excellent animal care and rescue, enrichment, and nutrition.
Best Friends Animal Society, (BFAS) founded in its present form in 1993, is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal welfare organization. BFAS does outreach nationwide with shelters, rescue groups and members to promote pet adoption, no-kill animal rescue, and spay-and-neuter practices. Best Friends has a 2-star 'needs improvement' rating from Charity Navigator.
The SPCA of Monterey County is a nonprofit, independent, donor-supported humane society located in Salinas, California that has been serving the animals and people of Monterey County since 1905. It is notable for its collaborative programs with other local non-profit civic organizations. Collaborations developed by the Monterey County SPCA have been used as models for animal protection programs throughout the U.S.
Compassion and Responsibility for Animals (CARA) is a registered non-profit, non-government animal welfare organization in the Philippines. It was founded in 2000 by a group of animal lovers determined to help the plight of animals in the Philippines. The current president of CARA is Nancy Cu-Unjieng.
The Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon (FCCO), originally named the Feral Cat Coalition of Portland (FCCP), is a nonprofit trap–neuter–return (TNR) organization based in Portland, Oregon. The organization's mission is to improve the lives and reduce the population of stray and feral cats through spay/neuter services and education. FCCO offers spay and neuter services to caregivers of stray and feral cats and low cost services for pet cats.
Population control is the practice of artificially maintaining the size of any population. It simply refers to the act of limiting the size of an animal population so that it remains manageable, as opposed to the act of protecting a species from excessive rates of extinction, which is referred to as conservation biology.
International Animal Rescue (IAR) is an animal protection and conservation non-profit organisation that comes to the aid of suffering animals with hands-on rescue and rehabilitation and the protection of wildlife habitats. IAR returns rehabilitated animals to the wild while also providing permanent sanctuary for those that cannot fend for themselves. Its work includes cutting free and caring for captive bears in India and Armenia, rescuing and rehabilitating orangutans and other primates in Indonesia and treating injured and orphaned howler monkeys in Costa Rica. IAR strives to educate the public in the humane treatment of all animals and the preservation of the natural environment. International Animal Rescue has offices in the United Kingdom, United States, India, Indonesia and Malta.
Alley Cat Allies is a nonprofit animal welfare organisation. It advocates for reform of public policies and institutions to better serve the interests of cats. Based in Bethesda, Maryland, the group is best known for introducing trap-neuter-return to the United States.
The New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) is a national, registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization “dedicated to ending the use of animals in research, testing, and science education” and replacing them with "modern alternatives that are ethically, humanely, and scientifically superior."
The North Carolina Animal Protection Act aims to protect pets and their owners in North Carolina. This legislation models the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and can be found in the North Carolina General Statutes under Chapter 19A: Protection Of Animals, Article 3, consisting of six articles.
Richmond Animal Protection Society (RAPS) is a no kill animal services agency in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. RAPS operates the city animal shelter, a cat sanctuary, a fostering network, and a full-service animal hospital.
International Society for Animal Rights (ISAR) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation chartered under the laws of the District of Columbia, United States of America, whose sole mission is to use education and law to advance animal rights.
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