Although our efforts this past months seem to have been dominated by the journey of lions BenTzur and Ori, seized from the illegal wildlife trade in Israel, and stepping out at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa, there has also been so much happening on our worldwide campaigns agenda.

We have seen some important victories and progress – Brazil banning foie gras; US Congress passing the FDA Modernization Act; badger culling ended in England; Spain abandoning plans for a massive octopus farm; New Zealand ending greyhound racing, and more.

BenTzur and Ori’s story attracted international coverage and symbolized what can be achieved, as ADI engages with public and governments worldwide, for greater animal protection.

Freedom for rescued lions: These young lions seized from the illegal wildlife trade in Israel, were stranded for months due to the war in the region. So, when we learned of a cargo flight out of Tel Aviv, we seized the opportunity, and this month the boys flew home. With limited flights available, it was 50 exhausting hours – flying south to Cairo, then north to Frankfurt, and then after more than ten hours south again, to Johannesburg – 7,500 miles, almost 3,500 more than flying direct!

But it was all worth it, as BenTzur and Ori took their first steps on African soil and began to systematically map out their 2.5-acre Kakato Home Sweet Home Habitat at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. We were so proud of them. It has been remarkable how quickly they have grown in confidence, got to know their carers and enjoy every part of their habitat. They had to transition from a very hot summer in Israel, to a very cold mid-winter in Free State, South Africa. So each evening, we call them back into their heated house for dinner, and then to sleep.  They are very content, they curl up together and then bound out to play in the bright winter sun, each morning.

Watch the journey here.

You can watch the boys playing with a catnip sack here and, if you missed it, see our latest Facebook Live, where we check in with the boys and other ADIWS residents, here.

VICTORY for ducks and geese: Brazil has banned production and sale of foie gras. One of the cruelest foods in the world, foie gras is produced by repeatedly force-feeding ducks and geese through a tube pushed down their throats until their livers become diseased and abnormally enlarged. Brazil now joins a growing number of countries taking action against this cruel industry. Please continue to speak out against foie gras.

In the UK join ADI in speaking up and contact your MP urging them to ban these cruel imports. Find your local MP here.

Stand against the cruel production of foie gras in the US.

VICTORY! Badger killing licenses revoked: Natural England (an advisory group sponsored by the Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) has confirmed to ADI that they are revoking “the final remaining badger control license in Cumbria”, bringing licensed badger culling in England to an end. Government policy is now “a comprehensive bovine tuberculosis (TB) eradication approach focused on cattle controls, biosecurity, vaccination and wildlife disease surveillance”.

But there are opponents to this humane move, although it is backed by the scientific evidence.  In Wales, Laura Anne Jones, MS, Reform UK, has presented a bill calling on the Senedd to consider implementing badger culling in Wales. Thankfully, Llyr Gruffydd MS, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, has confirmed he will await recommendations from the TB Technical Advisory Group before considering any change in policy. This is another concerning proposal from Reform which would undermine animal protection – others include overturning the ban on hunting with hounds and reductions in environmental protection. Urge Reform to change these policies.

Please join us in signing this petition calling on the Senedd to reject any badger cull in Wales.

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 death each – Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, Saratoga Harness in New York, and Parx Racing in Pennsylvania. 79 horses dead at just these five tracks since the beginning of the year.

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

In the US, contact your local representatives and urge them to support legislation to protect horses.

VICTORY: 150 years of  commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand ended on 1^st August.

Around 1,400 greyhounds now need to be rehomed, while around 150 are being sent to Australia, where some may continue racing.

In the UK, three greyhounds died at the residential kennels attached to Star Pelaw Greyhound Stadium in County Durham during the extreme heat. An investigation is underway. 

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider nonclinical tests, advanced replacement human-relevant methods called New Approach Methodologies, instead of animal tests.  Although not a prohibition of any animal tests, the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 will require the FDA to consider non-animal methods when approving a drug or other product to go on the market. Nevertheless, it is hoped it will remove another obstacle to the elimination of animal tests.  The Act has passed both houses of Congress and now requires the Senate to approve the House version of the bill, before it can go to the President to be signed into law.

Please urge your Senators to support the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 (H.R. 2821) to advance science and technology for faster, more relevant results for humans.

VICTORY:  Nueva Pescanova drops plans for the world’s first commercial octopus farm in Gran Canaria, Spain. Up to one million octopuses a year would have been farmed at the facility for meat. This is a major victory for these intelligent, sentient animals and for everyone who spoke out against the proposal. ADI continues to call for a UK ban on imports from octopus farms and in the US, ADI is backing state and federal measures to prohibit octopus farming.

UK Government fails to phase out F1 monkeys in labs.  16 years ago, after an intense ADI campaign, the use of wild caught monkeys was banned in UK and European labs. There was also a commitment to phase out use of F1 monkeys – monkeys born to a female monkey taken from the wild.  Yet, the latest UK government statistics reveal almost half of the monkeys used, 859 (47%) were F1 – almost double the previous year. The figures indicate that the monkey dealers in Asia and Mauritius have continued to stock their factory farms with wild caught monkeys.

Contact your MP and urge the Government to accelerate reducing the number of animals in experiments and prohibit the use of F1 primates and supply of animals from unlicensed/uncontrolled suppliers.

This week, the Lawrence County Fair is hosting Banana Derby – monkeys strapped onto dogs as ‘jockeys’, as the dogs race around makeshift tracks to entertain crowds. The terrified monkeys are thrown about as the dogs career around the course.

Contact the fair and urge them not to host the Banana Derby anymore and to adopt an animal-free entertainment policy: 📩 lawcofair@gmail.com 📞 724-654-7745

Emotional reunion for lions at ADIWS. Senior lions, Kimba and Tomas were born in a circus in Guatemala but separated when Tomas was sent to a zoo in the capital city. When ADI removed all the circus animals, the zoo sent Tomas to our Temporary Rescue Unit, with 20 minutes’ notice! They now live together at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa and rarely apart. When Kimba had a recent hospital checkup, there was an emotional reunion on his return, watch it here.    

VICTORY: MP Sarah Dyke’s Bill to recategorize reindeer as domestic animals died.  Thank you to everyone who responded to us to oppose this attempt to strip reindeer, used for public events, such as Christmas shows, of the rudimentary protections they have as wild animals, e.g. requiring a local authority licence/license, basic zoo welfare standards such as minimum enclosure sizes. The bill passed the first stage in the House of Commons, but thankfully it lost momentum and ran out of time – your overwhelming opposition is sure to have helped!

The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is hosting elephant, camel, pony, and llama rides until October 4. These animals endure long hours in cramped trailers, then are kept in small temporary paddocks, tethered or chained by the legs. Their only exercise is being forced to walk around in small circles carrying people on their backs – something painful and damaging for the spines of elephants, and suffering for others. Violence is commonplace in the training of these performing animals.

The festival has historically worked with notorious elephant ride provider Trunks & Humps, exposed by ADI when we filmed presenter Mike Swain beating, shocking and even dragging elephant Krissy to the ground with a hook, to kick her in the face. 

Contact the festival at entertainment@renaissancefest.com  and politely urge them to end all animal rides and adopt a no animal policy. If you live in the Shakopee, MN area, and want to join the local protests, please contact us at usa@ad-international.org for details.

Baby owls learning to fly. Four baby owls arrived at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary a month ago. They had fallen from their nest on top of a silo at a local farm, and their parents had not returned. This was a new challenge for the ADIWS. The owlets initially moved in with Brenton Bester, ADIWS Wildlife & Education Director, then into an aviary in the Non-Predator Reception Area (NPRA) where they are now learning to fly.

The NPRA was built thanks to supporter donations earlier this year, and now home to many new rescues, including three peacocks, chickens, two springboks, over 60 baby tortoises (being protected from the winter), a duiker deer, and our horses and donkeys when they need to be kept in for veterinary treatment.

Owl houses have been put up around the Sanctuary and a soft release is planned in the near future – the aviary will be opened, and they will be able to return for food if they wish. One owl is not as advanced as the others, and may have been injured in the fall the nest – a veterinarian is monitoring.

You can watch the latest of our Owl Watch videos here, and coming soon will be a short documentary about the owls  

VICTORY: British charter airline, TUI Airlines, updates animal welfare policy to end transport of hunting trophies. TUI joins a growing list of some of the biggest international air cargo companies who have taken a stand against trophy hunting, including Emirates SkyCargo, Qatar Airways Cargo and DHL Express. Each new company adopting this commitment is one less option for hunters wishing to import their sick trophies.

Move to ban horse-drawn carriages across Pennsylvania. Philadelphia has already banned horse-drawn carriages but now, PA House bill 2713 proposes prohibiting horse-drawn carriages in every Pennsylvanian city with a population of 100,000 or more – PA cities, like Pittsburgh and Allentown, would have to cease all horse-drawn carriage operations.  Horses used for carriage rides work in extreme heat, breathe exhaust fumes, and navigate terrifying traffic in modern cities, risking injuries to both horses and people. Consequently, an increasing number of cities around the world are banning them.

If you live in PA, please urge your state representatives to support bill 2713 to prohibit horse-drawn carriages, find them here.

Llyr Gruffydd, Wales Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, tells ADI that Wales is working to end boiling alive of suffering of lobsters. Responding to ADI, the Minister confirmed that Wales does not consider boiling animals alive to be acceptable, and Welsh officials are working with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to develop guidance on the humane killing of decapod crustaceans. He further advised that The Animal Welfare Committee, an expert group from all three British Governments, is conducting an independent supply chain review on the welfare impacts of the capture, landing and handling of these animals.

New law calls for help for animals after Colombia earthquake.  An earthquake in western Colombia has caused severe damage in Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Caldas, Risaralda, and Quindío, destroying buildings, and causing loss of human and animal lives. Colombia recently enacted Law 2474 of 2025, authored by Senator Esmeralda Hernández, which recognizes/recognises animals as subjects of care and rescue during disasters and emergencies. Consequently, various government institutions are including animals in their protocols. However, the support of the public and animal protection groups is essential to guarantee food and veterinary care for victims rapidly enough in this state of emergency. ADI Colombia is working to help.

You can donate – US $, CA $ | UK £, Euros, Rand – to help the ADI Colombia team to support animal emergency work and rescues.

Glue traps are extremely cruel, indiscriminate, and illegal across the UK, yet openly and cheaply sold on Amazon. Trapped animals suffer severe injuries, starvation and dehydration lasting hours or even days, before death. Wales and Scotland have both passed bans on all uses of glue traps. In England, only licensed professionals are still permitted to use them in exceptional circumstances.

However, on Amazon.co.uk glue traps are cheap, easy to find and most importantly, come with no warning that customers are likely breaking the law and risking large fines, and even prison time, by using them. ADI has written to John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK & Ireland manager but we need your help to stop these sales. Take action here.

Baby elephant faces a lifetime of captivity:  ZSL Whipsnade Zoo recently announced the birth of a male Asian elephant calf. Celebrated as a conservation success story, the reality is this calf will not be going back to the wild but faces a lifetime of stress, confinement – in the wild the range of an Asian elephant can span 125 square miles in a lifetime – and likely separation from his family through future transfers to other zoos. With developing understanding of the complex social and environmental needs of the species, it is alarming that zoos continue to breed to perpetrate their own captive elephant populations, whilst providing no meaningful contribution to the conservation of elephants in the wild.  Never support attractions that exploit elephants for entertainment. 

Never forget BenTzur & Ori’s journey home with our limited edition fundraising T-shirt and hoodie, all proceeds of which will help care for the lions. Orders will be sent out on 4 September. View and order here.

As you can see from this round-up, our rescues are just one aspect of ADI’s work to permanently change the status of animals in laws around the world. The rescue of BenTzur and Ori featured in media all over the world and has, we hope, opened the eyes of many people to suffering of wild animals as ‘trophy pets’ used for ‘likes’ on social media.

Daily Mail
IOL

As you can see from this round-up, ADI works on many fronts and your support is essential for sustaining the work included here, can you help?

Donate US $, CA $ | Donate UK £, Euros, Rand

After weeks of work on export, import permits and flight arrangements, we finally took off this week with our two (now adolescent) male lions, BenTzur and Ori, from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Like all these victims of the illegal wildlife trade sold as trophy pets, the two boys were taken from their mother early and handed around from person to person as a toy, and for photos. Another pair of victims of the social media trend where people pose with exotic pets for likes, which has led to a huge increase in this cruel, illegal trade.

A growing number of countries have banned this trade, so the cubs were confiscated by Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority in a crackdown on wildlife trafficking, one tied to a tree in a yard, and the other in a basement. They were placed in a local zoo until a permanent home could be found.

As soon as ADI was alerted to BenTzur and Ori’s plight, we offered Nature and Parks Authority, a home at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. It is important to offer support to authorities in this way, to encourage them to take action and seize illegal animals. Weeks of permit applications and processing got underway in South Africa and Israel, and we were feeling encouraged. Then, they became stranded when the war between the US, Israel and Iran closed down all flights.

After months of waiting, we suddenly heard of a cargo flight leaving Tel Aviv and raced to get the lions out. We flew to Israel to escort our precious new residents home to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary.

With very limited numbers of cargo flights leaving Israel, it would be a complicated 50-hour journey to South Africa, with stops in Cairo and Frankfurt. We completed the documentation and made preparations for food and water on their way to a new life.

At 1pm on Sunday 2 August we finished luring the lions into their travel crates and set off to the airport, it was extremely hot in the Israel summer, so moving quickly was important to keep the lions cool. We arrived just after 5pm and BenTzur and Ori were taken to a quiet air-conditioned section of the cargo facility, where we topped up their water and gave them snacks.

We took off at midnight and landed in Cairo at 2am for a 2.5-hour stopover, taking on cargo and for a crew change. Both lions were relaxed, so Tim and I fed them small pieces of meat through a ventilation hole in the crate. We topped up their water trays using a hose pipe attached to a funnel.

We finally took off from Cairo and landed at Frankfurt International Airport, 7.40am on Monday 3 August. Our wait for the next flight would be over 12 hours.

We headed to the Lufthansa Animal Lounge where the lions were placed in their own room. We were able to visit them during the day, ensuring they had plenty of water and giving them snacks, keeping them calm. BenTzur was taking it all in his stride, grabbing his food and playing with the water hose. Ori was subdued. We could tell he was feeling it was time to get out of the crate.

At 10.30pm we took off from Frankfurt, flying through the night and landing in South Africa at 7.30am. The lions were taken into the cargo building to be inspected and for the paperwork checked to allow the lions into the country.

It was now Tuesday 4 August. At 10.05am BenTzur and Ori crossed the airport threshold, entered the land of their ancestors, and became residents of South Africa.

We had a nearly four-hour drive to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. As we passed through the gate, some of the residents roared the arrival of new lion residents.

We unloaded them into their new heated night house. It is winter in South Africa and very cold at night, and they would have had a very hot summer in Israel, so it was important to help them transition. The lions in the next habitats – Rey Ayacucho, Kesari, Coco and Chino, roared the announcement of the new residents.

Ori settled as soon as he saw BenTzur, they rubbed heads and were talkative. It was late, so we gave them a little food and they snuggled down on hay beds after their long, life-changing journey.

By morning, they had slept well, so we let them out into the feeding camp for their first taste of Africa. They reacted to the grass underfoot, but soon explored thoroughly, mapping out the space so they knew where everything was.

They became very confident, and repeatedly looked through the gate into the main enclosure. It was time to inspect their new home!

We let them through into their main enclosure of 2-3 acres, and they systematically walked the space, mapping out where everything was….

They particularly liked the den under the mound we created for Ruben, later used by Muneeb, who has moved to a larger habitat. We found them still there a while later, relaxing and listening to the voices of the other lions, and other ADIWS residents.

Now they are listening and looking at the other lion residents around them, we know, very soon, they will be talking lion and joining the roaring chorus in the morning and evenings.

Thank you to everyone who donated, to give BenTzur and Ori the gift of a new life under African skies, a chance to join the ADIWS super-pride, the opportunity to live with the small local wildlife in their habitat, and as close to freedom as we can get.

Watch the video of their incredible journey and new life.

Adopt BenTzur and Ori on our UK store | US store

Donate to help care for BenTzur and Ori for life: UK £, Euros, Rand | US $, CA $

I am writing from Israel where, in the sweltering heat, we are making the final preparations to move rescued lions, BenTzur and Ori, to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa.

On Sunday, 2nd August, we will be loading, BenTzur and Ori, and just after midnight Tim and I will be flying from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt, Germany, on the first leg of our marathon journey to Africa. At Frankfurt, we will have a 10-hour stopover before boarding a non-stop, 10.5-hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, landing the next day, on 4^th August, for the final road trip, 3.5 hours, to the ADIWS.

We will be providing live updates during the journey on ADI’s social media channels.

At the ADIWS, their new life begins. As they drive through the gate, all the residents will know immediately and the lions will look up for the new arrivals, and there may be some roaring of welcome.  BenTzur and Ori will be moved into their newly refurbished 2.5 acre habitat, with new 2-room night house with new power supply and heated floors, trees, shrubs, and a large platform for the views with den underneath, a total cost of $42,000 (our thanks to Sharon and Art Barber for sponsoring the new house.

It is winter in South Africa, extremely cold, yellow grass, so we will first settle them into their cosy, heated night house. Next day, they can go out into the feeding camp to taste life under the African sky.

Over their first few days, they will hear and see their lion neighbors, listen to the sanctuary-wide morning and evening roaring songs, and perhaps grow in confidence and learning to join in.

On one side of their new home, across the road, are the habitats of ReyA, Kesari, Coco and Chino.  On the other side, are tigers Luna, Sun and Moon, and to the north, is home to white lionesses, Lei-ah and Elsa.

Due to the impact of the war, it was not possible to get any assistance from airlines for a free flight, or other transport costs, so we need your help more than ever – for flights ($40,000), trucks, ground transport, new crates, airport and shipping fees. In addition to covering the cost of the relocation we must raise the funds for BenTzur and Ori’s lifetime care, veterinary, food, care team, and habitat maintenance. One found tied to a tree and another hidden in a house, we can give them 20 years of freedom, where nature intended.

Our target is $100,000 for relocation, construction costs and care.  Can you help get us there? Please help bring them home and give them a lifetime in the land of their ancestors.

Donate US $, CA $ | Donate UK £, Euros, Rand

The wait is almost over! Next week I will fly to Israel with Tim and on Sunday 2 August we will load young lions BenTzur and Ori, to fly with them to Frankfurt on Monday 3^rd, on the first leg of our journey to freedom in Africa. It will be a long, ten-hour wait in Frankfurt before flying overnight to South Africa, arriving on Tuesday 4August.

The work is now intense, as we ensure everything is in place and we hope there will be no further obstacles to these young lions starting their new life. They have almost their entire lives ahead of them, as much as 20+ years – home in Africa, learning to roar, becoming part of the super-pride at ADIWS.

Can you help bring them home and care for them?  Donate US $, CA $ | Donate £, Euros, Rand

This is another important rescue which exposes the illegal trophy pet trade, which is being fueled around the world by irresponsible social media companies who do nothing to stop it, and selfish, ignorant, influencers hoping for millions of likes for keeping lion and tiger cubs in miserable, unnatural conditions.

Here is a round-up of some of our campaign activity and developments over the past month, including two more big victories for our Stop Circus Suffering campaign.

Hungary has banned wild animals in circuses with the law coming into force at the end of the current circus season. How the tide has turned was illustrated by some of Hungary’s biggest circus companies, such as The Capital Circus of Budapest and the Hungarian National Circus, coming out in support of the ban.

Illinois expands ban on wild animal acts. Having banned elephants in circuses several years ago, Illinois has now banned the use of cougars, jaguars, leopards, lions, tigers, primates, and bears, becoming the eighth US state with such a ban. Let’s keep the momentum going.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposes replacing certain 3-month toxicity studies on monkeys.  ADI is pressing Congress to back the measure and ensure it is implemented quickly. ADI has also met with UK Home Office officials to discuss the Government’s roadmap to phase-out animal testing and we are challenging the lack of visible progress. So far, ADI has submitted detailed responses and critiques to the UK ‘roadmap’, as well as similar proposals from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the EU roadmap, and to the Colombian government on the compulsory use of alternatives. Our campaign to end the use of animals in laboratories has hit a potential new wave of progress, after decades of promoting and funding advanced, non-animal technologies to replace unreliable, unethical, and unnecessary animal use, mechanisms that could drive this forward are being proposed. We will NEED YOUR HELP. Take action when we call. Donate to help. In the UK, visit our Roadmap web page and take action for animals today.

Philadelphia’s ban on horse-drawn carriages signed into law – in NYC, ADI testifies to support a ban. Following cities likes Lima, Malaga, Chicago and Montreal,Philadelphia is the latest city to end the cruelty of horse-drawn carriage rides. The bill prohibiting the use of commercial or non-commercial horse-carriages, introduced by Councilmember Squilla, has been signed by Mayor Cherelle Parker.

Last week, ADI’s Policy Advisor Drew McCormick was in New York to testify before NYC Committee on Health in support of Bill 0943, to ban horse-drawn carriages in the city. There was a huge turnout outside City Hall and dozens of campaigners testified in support of the bill renamed Romanch’s Law in memory of a teen recently killed when a poor horse pulling a carriage was frightened and ran, killing the young man. The law was previously known as Ryder’s Law, after one of the many horses who collapsed and died from being overworked pulling carriages. Momentum is building with a majority of the NYC Council sponsoring the bill and backing from the Mayor – but we need your help to get it passed!

HELP MAKE NEW YORK CITY NEXT!  If you live in NYC, contact members of the Health Committee here and urge them to support bill 943, Romanch’s law.

ADI and campaigners unite in UK Parliament to mark the anniversary of the killing of Cecil. Eleven years ago, Cecil the lion was lured from the safety of a protected reserve in Zimbabwe and shot with an arrow by a pathetic US tourist, killing animals for kicks. He suffered for up to 12 hours before being killed, this tragic incident laid bare the abomination of trophy hunting. More than a decade later, blood thirsty cowards continue to travel to Africa to kill wildlife for fun and bans on the import of their vile ‘trophies’ are still awaited in the UK and US. On the anniversary of Cecil’s death campaigners held an event in the Houses of Parliament calling for the ban on imports of hunting trophies.

Four orphaned barn owl chicks are growing fast at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. Wildlife & Education Director Brent Bester is raising the chicks, mimicking as close as possible, how their parents would feed them. Soon they will be moved into an aviary in our Non-Predator Reception Area for the next phase of their rehabilitation, and once adult, released into the wild. We are posting regular updates following their progress on social media and YouTube.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Modernization Act 3.0 has passed both houses of Congress!  Although not a prohibition, the bill would require the FDA to consider use of ‘nonclinical tests’, advanced replacement human-relevant methods called New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), for FDA approval of a drug or other product to go on the market. The Senate must now pass the House version of the bill, which will then go to the president to be signed into law.

Please urge your Representatives to support the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 (H.R. 2821) to advance science and technology for faster, more relevant results. The Senate must now pass the House version of the bill, which will then go to the president to be signed into law.

Scotland has prohibited the supply or possession of glue traps, with offenders facing fines up to £40,000/$55,000 or up to 12 months in prison. Scotland passed the ban in 2024, but it was delayed due to clashes with UK law. With a ban in Wales as well, England is now the only country in Great Britain still allowing these devices that cruelly and indiscriminately trap animals (including songbirds, bats and even pets), leaving them to a long and painful death. ADI is urging the Minister for Nature to bring England in line with the rest of Great Britain. Ask your MP to push for a comprehensive ban on cruel and unnecessary glue traps.

Two fin whales – the second-largest animals on earth and classified as vulnerable to extinction – have been killed by commercial whaling company Hvalur hf in Iceland, one of the few countries to still allow commercial whaling. The company was granted a five-year license in 2024 but this is the first hunt. In May ADI called on Iceland’s Ministry of Industries to justify or revoke the license for a quota for 150 fin whales. They acknowledged receipt of our letter, but did not answer our questions. Please write to Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, and Minister of Industries Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, and demand they take action to end whale hunting.

UK Parliament pushed to end trail hunting.  ADI’s Bill Carter, George Chilcott and Will Bradley (above) joined MPs, wildlife experts, and fellow campaigners at a parliamentary event to push for an end to trail hunting. Since the passing of the 2004 Hunting Act in England and Wales, trail hunting has been used as cover for illegal hunting. ADI supporters responded to the government’s public consultation and, as part of the Time for Change Coalition Against Hunting, ADI continues to urge the government to deliver its election promise.

White lioness, Lei-ah, celebrates her 11^th birthday at ADIWS.  ADI evacuated Lei-ah and Elsa from Panthera Africa Big Cat Sanctuary after a devastating wildfire. ADI has covered all food, care costs, and modifications to the habitat for Lei-ah and Elsa, and we have committed to doing so for as long as the sanctuary needs to rebuild. Our thanks to everyone who is helping us care for these lovely, unexpected, special guests. We think Lei-ah enjoyed her birthday roaming her habitat at ADIWS.

President Trump’s Executive Order, ‘Declaring a National Energy Emergency’, required the Endangered Species Committee to meet for the first time in 34 years. They decided that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) should NOT protect the estimated 50 remaining Rice’s whales in the Gulf of México, and instead, allow oil and gas extraction from the area. ADI Policy Advisor, Drew McCormick (pictured), joined a protest outside the Committee meeting in D.C. Since then, House Resolution 8919 has been proposed to nullify the Committee’s decision to ignore the ESA, and, would prohibit the planned oil and gas drilling and mining in the Gulf. Urge your Representative to support H.R. 8919 and the ESA!

The UK banned fur farming over 20 years ago, but still ALLOWS fur imports. A Private Member’s Bill from Ruth Jones MP will ban the import and sale of animal fur has received its First Reading and is now due to be debated at its Second Reading on 4 September. IT NEEDS OUR HELP. It is very difficult for a Private Member’s Bill to be passed in the UK, so even though this one is clearly in line with British law and ethics. It is vital you contact your MP today and ask them to support the Fur (Import and Sale) Bill and ensure it is given Parliamentary time to pass.

Portland, Oregon recently passed a ban on foie gras and work continues across the US to end this cruel ‘delicacy’ that involves the brutal force feeding of ducks and geese. Multiple states are considering bills or ordinances to ban foie gras, including Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Washington state, plus Denver, Colorado. ADI US supporters, act now. If you live in any of these areas, check here to see how you can help.

Unlicensed dealers supplying dogs to UK labs as experiments RISE.  UK Home Office latest figures reveal that, despite public concern, procedures on dogs in British labs (which had been declining since 2020) rose in 2025 to 2,889 procedures – a 9% increase. The number of dogs used rose to 1,706, with many dogs enduring more than one procedure. While most of these dogs were bred in laboratories or purchased from licensed dealers like MBR, 8 beagles and 41 “other dogs” were obtained from unlicensed establishments. ADI has requested the Home Office clarify who these suppliers are, what checks were made on them, and the justification for going outside of the dealers ‘licensed’ under the UK legislation. The UK licensing system is frequently used to provide reassurance to the public of the ‘strict controls’ on animal experiments, so why are UK labs operating outside the law?

New York State Bill S7421A / A8043, to ban farming of octopuses, has passed both houses and awaits the signature of Governor Hochul. Washington state and California have already banned this cruel industry. In addition to banning production, Washington state is trying to also ban sales of farmed octopus. Several other octopus farming bans are pending around the US including the federal OCTOPUS Act. Please urge your legislators to SUPPORT the following bills!

• FEDERAL – The OCTOPUS Act to ban commercial octopus farming throughout the US and prohibit imports of farmed octopus from abroad.
• Hawaii – SB 1159 / HB 365 to prohibit the farming of certain non-wild-caught octopuses for human consumption.
• Massachusetts – H.4422 to penalize the aquaculture of octopus for human consumption.
• New Jersey – A1537 / S1080 to ban aquaculture of octopus for human consumption.
• Washington – HB 1608 to prohibit a person from knowingly selling, possessing, transporting, or distributing any octopus from aquaculture.

You can support our campaigns by donating here.

Finally, if you’re enduring a summer heatwave, don’t forget the animals are, too, so put out fresh water every day, and a variety of food if you can.

I have exciting news!  After months of twists and turns, ceasefires, then resumption of war, we have just secured a route out of Israel for lions BenTzur and Ori.

With your help today, the lions will be on African soil on August 4^th.

Seized as tiny cubs by the Police with Israel’s Nature & Parks Authority (NPA) in a crackdown on illegally trafficked animals over a year ago, BenTzur and Ori, didn’t just have a bad start in life, but our plans went on hold as they became stranded for months in a war zone. 

The tiny cubs were torn from their mother when they should have been suckling, to be passed from person to person to pose with as “trophy pets”. 

Treated as a fashion accessories and status symbols for social media likes, these animals are often dumped when the owners get bored, or the animals too big and expensive to feed.  Rescues like this are an important if we are to fight back against this cruelty.

Ori was found in a basement and BenTzur tied to a tree. A zoo took them in on a temporary basis, then after a near year-long wait, they were offered a home in South Africa, only for a wildfire at the sanctuary to end their chance at a life in Africa.

ADI evacuated two white lions, Lei-ah and Elsa, from the stricken sanctuary, and Tim and I flew to Israel to take over the rescue of BenTzur and Ori. We obtained export and import permits to bring the lions to South Africa, and, as they were growing fast, ordered adult-size ADI-specification travel crates built in Israel. With Lei-ah and Elsa in our quarantine unit indefinitely, we began adapting a habitat at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary to take the boys.

When the war started between Israel, the United States and Iran, we were suddenly in limbo. After months of waiting, there is now a way out for the lions and I have seized it.

However, this rescue is coming at high cost, with the war sending prices sky rocketing – there are no free, or discounted, services available to us this time. I desperately need your help to raise $80,000 (£60,000) to cover the most urgent travel, habitat construction, and care costs for BenTzur and Ori.  If we cannot raise the funds for this rescue, it will severely impact our ability to help other animals and put a strain on the ADIWS daily running costs.

Tim and I have just managed to secure the last tickets remaining on a flight to Israel. We will arrive there on Thursday 30 July, ready to load the lions on Sunday 2^nd August and will take off in the early hours of Monday 3^rd, fly to Frankfurt, Germany to change aircraft and finally arrive in Johannesburg on Tuesday 4 August.

I will keep you updated every step of the way.

This is an urgent appeal, please give what you can.  With your help we can change the luck of these two lions and bring them home to Africa. Donate US $, CA $ | Donate UK £, Euros, Rand

You can also adopt the lions and contribute to their lifetime care from our US store | UK store.

Let’s bring them home.

The summer holidays are here and for many, this will be a chance to enjoy nature and wildlife. There are plenty of ethical options, supporting wildlife and nature reserves at home and abroad, and helping wildlife rescue. Just getting the chance to get out in your own yard, fill the bird baths and feeders, then sit back and enjoy the local wildlife is a joy.

The summer holidays bring a chance to see the world, wildlife, other cultures, but don’t be fooled into supporting cruelty.  Here’s a few things to watch out for.

Dressed up as ‘tradition’, bull running appeals to (often drunk) aggressive, thrill seekers. The Pamplona bull run attracts up to a million spectators as terrified bulls race through the streets. Our investigators have filmed these events in Peru and Colombia, as bewildered animals are released from trucks and, blinking in the bright sunshine, are immediately set upon by drunken mobs and punched, kicked, hit and spat on, with this open viciousness promoted as ‘culture’. There is nothing cultural or admirable about such thuggery. Colombian public opinion overwhelmingly (85%) supports the ban on bullfighting, which comes into force in July 2027 – it is not Colombian culture. Yet the organizers of these violent events try to claim it is culture!

So-called bull ‘fighting’ (which is public torture, not a fight), and indeed, rodeos use the same excuses. It is entertainment for cowards and bullies, enjoying acts of cruelty and violence in public, against naturally gentle species – cows, bulls and horses, bringing shame on the whole community. Never support bullfighting, bull running, rodeos, or similar events.

That sunset elephant ride isn’t romantic, it’s abuse.  ADI investigations blew the lid off the cruel training methods in the biggest elephant training centers in the US, with animals beaten, jabbed with metal bars, electric shocked, and crying out in pain. Again, the cowardly bullies choose a gentle species. Footage in the training camps in Asia of baby elephants isolated in the crush device so they can’t escape, then mercilessly beaten into submission, are sickening. ADI has filmed similar training and techniques to instill fear around the world, and ADI footage showing how seemingly ‘affectionate’ strokes and pats given in public are, in fact, a reminder and warning ‘Keep doing as you are told, or you know what’s coming.’ You can see the disturbing footage here.

Despite their incredible strength, elephants’ backs are simply unsuitable for people to ride; with prominent vertebrae, upward-pointing protrusions and little cushioning, being ridden by people is uncomfortable for them and causes severe damage and pain. Never support elephant rides or contact experiences, such as bathing with elephants.

The rule to know and tell your friends and family is – any activity involving human contact with wild animals involves some kind of constraint, altering their natural desires and behaviour / behavior, and involves punishment, brutal training in order to make the animal obedient, all to keep the HUMAN safe from harm. That is the cost of the ticket.

A lifetime of suffering for a holiday experience.  If you are lucky enough to be snorkeling or diving and are joined by a pod of wild dolphins, it can be the experience of a lifetime. That is very different to paying to be in contact with dolphins who have been captured, confined, trained, and their families broken up. All to be ready, on demand, for the next tourist. Don’t be fooled by how natural the setting is made to look, if it’s not the open ocean, it’s not freedom. Wild dolphins don’t want to kiss people or drag them through the water by their fins – those are tricks they are trained to tolerate, not signs of affection. Behind the scenes, dolphins are kept hungry in small pens. They interact with tourists for the chance to eat. Interacting with people is not a choice, it’s survival. Never support the captivity of dolphins and whales.

Circus cruelty continues. ADI’s Stop Circus Suffering campaign has seen more than 50 countries ban wild animals in circuses over the last 30 years, launched with the first deep undercover investigation of the industry. More than a quarter of the nations on earth is good, but there is still a way to go, and many countries allow this archaic cruelty – including much of the United States. Eight US states have passed bans, so far. Forty-two to go. Now is not the time to pause, we must keep going, again and again. These casual public shows involving abused animals, aimed at children, are teaching children the wrong view of other species – seeing them as objects of enjoyment and entertainment, instead of a living, intelligent, emotional individual with the right to their own life on earth.

Our studies show how circuses keep their animals confined in small, barren, spaces for most of their time, deprived of the right to move around, explore, run, play, be with their family groups. Chained, tethered, most of their time shut away; unable to eat at will, or seek out natural fresh water sources. Everything that, for all of us, makes life worthwhile. And then there is the brutal training, with violence, intimidation, deprivation.

This has been an important campaign worldwide, as these tacky shows are teaching children that it is OK to dominate and beat another living being for our amusement, just because they do not look like us, live like us, or communicate in the same way.

Support circuses with ONLY human acts. NEVER go to circuses with animal acts.

State and County Fairs can be fun for families or hell for animals. There can be plenty of fun with motorized rides, games, cotton candy, and more. Yet they also use llamas, camels, zebras and other animals confined, standing around all day, in the heat.  These species have evolved over thousands of years to travel in family herds over miles of open land, exploring, crossing rivers, deserts, grassland, forests. Intelligent, emotional, protective of their family groups, their constant movement maintains a healthy body, and the challenges stimulates their minds. If they were human, the conditions in these fairs would be considered a form of torture.

Worst of all, are attractions like Sea Lion Splash, where marine mammals tour closed in containers as opposed to the freedom of the seas, or the Banana Derby (pictured) where monkeys are strapped to the backs of dogs to race around a track, a world away from their forest homes and the culture they understand.

Check what’s on show and let the organizers know you won’t be attending if there’s animal suffering, when animals are treated as props or toys for fun. If you see anything of concern, take photos/videos and send to ADI so we can make complaints and publicize it.

Social media is flooded with photographs of people cuddling exotic animals, from tiger cubs to baby monkeys. Using them like props. Behind every snapshot and selfie is a lifetime of suffering for the individual animal, and we must let people know that they have created this trade by taking the photos.

Traffickers kill families to capture baby monkeys. Claims that baby animals have been “rejected by their mothers” are lies. To keep them compliant, captors isolate and often drug these animals. Monkeys suffer their teeth being broken off to stop them biting and they are terrorized to perch obediently on people’s shoulders.

Cheap thrills at the expense of animals.  Captive-bred lion and tiger cubs are torn from their mothers so young that they should still be suckling, to be passed from one person to the next. As they get too big to handle, they may go to zoos or circuses. Young lions are also used for tourists to walk alongside them in natural looking settings, but their natural instincts are suppressed, they are forced to be compliant, and life is short if they step out of line.

ADI is working to help the Government of South Africa to end the lion farming industry, which is seen as a stain on their conservation efforts. The farms constantly breed lions for tourist cub petting entertainment, and as the cubs grow, they go to canned hunting operations where they are placed in small spaces for trophy hunters to get an easy kill. Their bones are also sold as an ingredient for ‘traditional medicine’. Data seen by ADI shows hundreds of farmed lions going from Free State, North West Province and others, up to Limpopo in the north, famous for its ‘safaris’. Lions that have been captive bred and fed all their lives by humans are easily lured into an enclosed area, and bewildered by suddenly being in a new location, they are an easy target for cowardly tourists to kill.  Cub petting is not harmless.

City streets in blazing sun is no place for animals, let alone to be hauling tourists. Once romanticized, following one horrific incident after another and the recent death of a teenager, the New York City carriage rides are under considerable pressure.  ADI Policy Advisor Drew McCormick testifies next week at NYC Council hearing on a horse drawn carriage ban, which is backed by the Mayor. Other cities around the world have already passed similar bans including Lima, Malaga, Prague and recently Philadelphia – come on New York!

When animals are turned into a tool to pull heavy loads, suffering follows.  Several holiday companies are no longer promoting camel rides in destinations like Egypt, but camel and donkey rides are common in many places. Tim and I once spent hours going up and down the 588 steps in Santorini, Greece to the town of Fira, in order to document the miserable lives of the donkeys and mules hauling tourists up and down to see the town. It was exhausting, depressing, hot, and animals were beaten to keep them moving. Since then, the authorities have at least restricted the weight of the tourists the poor donkeys must carry, but the depressing business continues.  Come on, if you can’t walk, use the cable car!

ONLY SUPPORT GENUINE SANCTUARIES. When I show people around the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary (ADIWS) on our social media live events, I make a point of saying we may not be able to see the animals.  Our habitats are several acres and so the lions and tigers can disappear if they want; this is their land, their home. If a resident chooses, they can come to the fence and check out the humans, but it is their choice. Unfortunately, there are now increasing numbers of captive wildlife establishments claiming to be sanctuaries, but are, in fact, pseudo sanctuaries, places of entertainment.

Here’s how to spot a True Sanctuary, like ADIWS (we and some other South African sanctuaries operate this code):

• Rescued animals provided with the space and environment necessary to express their natural behaviors and feel safe. (Meaning they have private space). 
• No breeding.
• No public contact or interaction with the animals; inc. harassment for “selfies”.
• No animal shall be mishandled, chased, frightened, or harmed in any way.
• No unescorted public visitation or contact.
• No removal of wild animals for exhibition, education, or research.
• No invasive or intrusive research.
• No commercial trade in animals or their body parts.

The best way of seeing wildlife is in the wild, wherever you are.  Enjoy your local wildlife and turn your garden/yard into an oasis and place of safety. If you are travelling, check out the wonderful wildlife protected in preserves from Africa to the Americas and further away (check their policies).

We have been building the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary since 2018 and construction work for the residents’ habitats, and staff accommodation has been intense, along with roads, storm drains, power, sewage and water systems. So, we have not yet been open to visitors. Next year, we will have limited space available for guests in the newly refurbished Chris L.C. Lee Guest Lodge. You’ll be able to see the animals you’ve helped rescue – lions and tigers from circuses and zoos, as well as antelope, tortoises, birds, pigs, cows, horses and donkeys. Nearby, we have one of South Africa’s national parks, with resident rhino, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, monkeys, baboons and many more.  Please email if interested and we will let you know about accommodation, prices and our opening date.  Email: usa@ad-international.org / info@ad-international.org

As you travel this summer holiday season, you’ve heard the DON’Ts now enjoy the DOs

• Enjoy wildlife in the wild – take home pictures and memories.
• If you spot cruelty, report it to holiday reps, Trip Advisor and ADI (usa@ad-international.org / info@ad-international.org) with pictures and details.
• Support travel companies with ethical policies that do not promote cruel animal activities and/or captive wildlife entertainment – tell companies why you won’t be booking with them. 
• Support the local economy, artists and crafts with ethical souvenirs – never buy products made from animal parts
• Dress with a statement with one of our vibrant, sustainably made T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies from our US store / UK store.

Remember most of the wonderful entertainment, art and genuine sport doesn’t involve animal suffering, the World Cup doesn’t even use leather footballs now!  Let’s all enjoy life and end animal suffering.

ADI is entirely reliant on donations, to help us keep fighting to end the bullfighting and bull running; the elephant rides, animal circuses, carriage rides, dolphin and whale shows, and to shut down the lion farms, please donate here, with your actions and support we are winning.

As our ADI US team and supporters celebrate their Independence Day tomorrow, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for giving so many animals their very own Independence Day through your support for ADI.

But first, I have some very special news….

Early on Wednesday morning, Daisy donkey gave birth to a beautiful foal. Within minutes the baby was on their own feet, feeding, soon happily exploring the Sanctuary alongside mother. The resident herd of uncle and auntie donkeys gathered around, with Daisy keeping her body between them and her newborn, as a protective mother should. She turned her back on them, shuffled her feet in gentle warning, not to come too close for baby’s first steps. They were all very respectful and, as we know, the herd is incredibly protective of young animals.

Eleven months ago, Daisy and her family were walking on a road and her mate was hit and killed by a truck.  Daisy was found at the roadside with her son. The owners agreed to surrender the donkeys to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary.

ADIWS follows the True Sanctuary policies, therefore does not allow breeding. Males are neutered, but donkey pregnancies can last 14 months and it slowly became clear Daisy had arrived with a baby already on the way. This is the third occasion a female has arrived pregnant, the earlier babies being Nugget and Eeyore, who have grown up in freedom.

We are keeping our distance from mother and foal and so do not know their sex yet, but do you have any suggestions for a name, boy or girl? We must provide lifetime care for the newborn, and a donkey can live up to 30 years.  Can you contribute to a special ‘Baby Shower’ to help secure the future of our latest arrival? Donate US $, CA $ | Donate UK £, Euros, Rand

It is always emotional when I see the lions we save take their first steps on African soil. For Coralie and Goliath, that was a year ago and marked the end of a decade in a tiny French circus cage. Now they were back in the land where they belong, enjoying acres of natural space – that’s what I call a real Independence Day!

Coralie and Goliath also represent two of the first animals saved as France begins emptying its circus cages. There will be no wild animals in circuses in France by the end of 2028. No one will suffer again as Coralie and Goliath did – that’s why ADI’s campaigns for permanent change are so vital.

Almost to the day a year before Goliath and Coralie’s arrival, Tim and I landed in South Africa with the with the six young lions saved from the illegal trophy pet trade in Kuwait– Muheeb, Shujaa and Saham, Aziza, Dhubiya, and Saif. Who can forget Saif and Dhubiya playing football (pictured above)?

They have all grown so much.  Shujaa and Saham are very loud, big boys.  Saif is developing a magnificent mane, and Aziza is the most transformed of them all.  Gone is that frightened, anxious animal, pacing frantically, we encountered in Kuwait. In her place a confident, powerful and friendly lioness.

Saif, Dhubiya and Aziza have recently moved to the 6+acre Sam & Eric Habitat where we have built a new three-room house and hope to full integrate the three as a pride. Aziza has been excitedly digging for rabbits but hasn’t caught any!  Watch their move to their new home and their excitement…

Six months after the Kuwait 6 arrived, Muheeb suddenly began to lose weight, he was taken into hospital and the diagnosis was devastating – cancer. Eighteen months on, after treatment by Dr Caldwell, Muheeb appears to be in remission. He continues to seize life with both paws, devours his meals and is maintaining a healthy weight, plays with toys and roars with the other lions.

We have built a new 2.5-acre habitat with a two room house for Muheeb, alongside Aziza, Dhubiya, and Saif, so he remains next to his friends from Kuwait. He galloped out into his new home and raced alongside his new neighbor, Smith, who lives next door.

For most of the animals we rescue, it is not possible to return them to the wild. Years of captivity leave deep scars—they are inbred and often cruelly maimed, their teeth broken, and toes cut off to stop claws from growing. They are stripped of the tools they need to survive on their own.

So, it is extra special for us when a wild future is possible.  We have released monkeys, birds and hundreds of confiscated tortoises into the wild. Right now, four orphaned barn owl chicks are being hand reared at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. The next step will be to put them in an aviary in our new Non-Predator Reception Area and then they will be freed. We will be building owl boxes on our barn. Nothing quite says ‘Independence Day’ than a cage being opened and a bird flying into the distance!

Where animals cannot be returned to the wild, ADI works to give them a life as close to what nature intended as possible – preferably in their natural habitat.

We fund the care of dozens of monkeys, kinkajous, coatimundis and bears rescued from circuses, restaurants, illegal zoos and wildlife traffickers. These live in enclosures built at two rainforest sanctuaries in Peru.

I will never forget the day we returned spider monkey Pepe and his family into their forest home. I opened Pepe’s travel crate, he looked out, climbed onto the top, hugged me and then swung away, into the trees with the other monkeys.

ADI’s most important rescue missions have been the huge operations enforcing circus bans and rescuing all the animals in Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala and Peru – approaching 200 animals saved.  We airlifted 29 lions out of Bolivia, a staggering 33 lions on one aircraft from Colombia and Peru, and 20 tigers and lions flew to new lives from Guatemala to South Africa.

Many of these animals continue to enjoy wonderful lives at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, like Kiara, still with her cubs Scarc and Mahla 12 years after we reunited the family when we rescued them from a circus in Peru.  Those residents who have now passed on, like dear Tarzan and Tanya, got to enjoy their golden years with grass beneath their feet in the African sunshine.

Ben Tzur and Ori have been stranded for months due to the war. Saved as cubs by Israeli wildlife officials from the illegal pet trade – BenTzur was found tied to a tree in a yard – they are now the equivalent of teenagers.

But with your help their Independence Day will come.

Today, I have been in touch with our shipping agents in Israel and South Africa and we are working hard to move the boys at the end of July or early August.  Everything is in place for them at ADIWS, where we have reconstructed the old habitats of Saif, Dhubiya, Aziza and Muheeb into a single habitat with a new 2-room house, to make a forever home for BenTzur and Ori.

Independence Day for all of these animals means giving them back their lives.

As you know, the war has caused the cost of the rescue of BenTzur and Ori to escalate massively. The flights cannot be donated by airlines this time, we must pay for them. I want to thank everyone who has contributed, but we must raise more to cover the costs.

Please consider a special donation today. Donate US $, CA $ | Donate UK £, Euros, Rand

Happy Independence Day. I know our rescued animals will also be celebrating theirs.

There is a lot going on with our legislative campaigns around the world and at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa! I am pleased to bring you the latest, which is only possible with your support.

After some optimism in the past two weeks that some cargo flights would resume out of Israel we seem to be back to the same waiting game of the past 100+ days. Each week the cargo companies we are in discussion with undertake security assessments and unfortunately each week the situation remains unstable. We are ready and waiting to receive the lions at ADIWS and will update you when we have some news on flights. Please support this rescue (Donate US $, CA $ | Donate £, Euros, Rand), as previously reported costs have escalated dramatically.

Colombia’s Ministry of Health and Social Protection has issued a resolution to compel the government to implement the ban on the manufacture, import, and sale of cosmetics and ingredients tested on animals. Representative Juan Carlos Losada had drafted the resolution, with ADI support, following a successful lawsuit before the Council of State. The product ban had been included in the law banning cosmetics testing on animals passed by Congress six years ago but had not been implemented.  ADI is also pressing for sections of the law to be enforced that demand the use of non-animal methods and calling for incentives and facilities for the development and implementation of advanced, non-animal methods.

Paige, an elephant owned by Trunks and Humps who have been repeatedly exposed by ADI, was used in a stunt at the Convention for the Republican Party of Texas in Houston. Videos of Paige at the convention went viral when she urinated as she walked through the loud crowds, her handler pulling her along and jabbing her with his bullhook. ADI undercover footage has previously shown Trunks and Humps’ presenter Mike Swain (pictured) electric shocking, hooking, and beating his elephants. ADI contacted D’rinda Randall, Chair of the Republican Party of Texas asking that the party commit to ensuring wild animals are not used for entertainment at their events in future – we await a response.

Contact the Republican Party of Texas and ask that they never use performing wild animals at such events.  Email: info@texasgop.org / Call: 512-477-9821

Earlier this month, Deniz, a 16-year-old carriage horse, collapsed and died in New York City, laying on the street among a crowd of horrified onlookers. A week later 18-year-old tourist Romanch Mahajan was thrown from a runaway carriage after the horse was spooked. Romanch suffered a traumatic head injury and died in the hospital later that day. The incidents have reignited support for Ryder’s Law, the ordinance to ban horse carriages in the city. Councilman Chris Marte has reintroduced it to the council – renamed Romanch’s Law, in honor of the young boy who lost his life.

If you live in New York City, please reach out to the Committee on Health to urge them to support its passage.

Roadmaps to eliminate animal experiments have been issued in the UK, US and EU and may offer the best opportunity for decades to actually end certain tests. The US FDA roadmap has language highly critical of animal testing but is limited in terms of targets. The EU Commission roadmap is the most ambitious in terms of targets. The UK roadmap falls between the two, setting some important targets but is seriously undermined by unnecessarily propagandizing about the assumed value of animal research – referring to animal tests as “fundamental to life sciences research”. This undermines the proposals from the outset, leaving a sense of déjà vu, that the UK Home Office isn’t really committed to the change to advanced science. This is underscored by the failure to confirm whether the 2025 target date to end the Rabbit Pyrogen Test has been met.

Nevertheless, simultaneous proposals to end certain experiments in the USA, UK  and across the EU, with some of the mechanics for change, is significant and ADI is intensifying efforts worldwide.

In the UK, contact your MP and demand proof that commitments are being met.

Milan Fashion Week announced it will no longer promote fur and has urged fashion brands to go fur-free. Organizers Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiania say it “is committed to not promoting fur”, adding that participating brands should not “present garments, accessories or anything else with fur”.  As more fashion houses, retailers, and fashion weeks move away from fur, the industry is proving that style and compassion can go hand in hand.

In May, we enjoyed one of our favorite Facebook lives as the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary began its day, featuring many of our rescued residents who are not seen as often as others. We began with the ducks and guinea fowl in pursuit of Jonas for their breakfast, we met up with Matilda’s family of cows, sheep, goats, Harold the goose, springboks Percy and Daisy, horses Apollo, Amani and Crockett, we watched the tortoises being fed and, of course, some lions and tigers. Enjoy the highlights here

Over two years ago, Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to instruct the City Attorney to draft an amended ordinance banning rodeos. Since then, this has sat in committee. Last week, ADI attended a press conference with Councilmember Bob Blumenfield and our humane coalition (pictured) to persuade the Arts, Parks, Libraries, and Community Enrichment Committee to put the ordinance on the agenda for a vote, but it was again omitted – the battle continues.

A bill in Illinois to outlaw steer tailing, known as “coleadero”, where a rider on horseback pulls and twists a bull’s tail, causing fear, pain, and injuries, has also stalled.

Don’t let these bills die!

• In LA: Submit written comments TODAY on Council File 20-1575 – urge the City Council to bring a vote on the rodeo ban
• In Illinois, urge the Assignments Committee to process the bill and support SB0045

Lobsters endure a horrific, agonizing death when boiled alive. UK law recognizes crustaceans as sentient, but this cruel practice continues in Wales. ADI and other animal protection groups have sent a letter to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience & Sustainability for Wales, urging the Welsh Government to end this inhumane and unnecessary practice. Please TAKE ACTION here.

Preparations for the arrival of BenTzur and Ori from Israel have seen a lot of construction at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, so we can move several residents to new habitats.

Smith has moved to the 5+ acre Antonia Habitat next door to his brother, Rey Cusco.

Aziza, Dhubiya and Saif have moved to the 5+ acre Sam&Eric Habitat, where we have built a new 3-room house; hopefully, this will help them to fully integrate as a pride.

We didn’t want Muheeb to lose contact with his Kuwait friends, so he has moved into the new 2.5-acre Keith’s Happiness Habitat next door, also with a new house. 

This has been a major new construction project at the ADIWS, which, including redeveloping the Kuwait lions’ old habitats and a new 2-room house for BenTzur and Ori, is costing $93,000. Can you help with this investment in facilities for these lions (Donate US $, CA $ | Donate £, Euros, Rand), which we hope they will enjoy for many years to come?     

Watch our Moving Day video of Muheeb and friends, Aziza, Dhubiya, and Saif.

VICTORY: The U.S. City of Portland banned the sale of foie gras by 7 votes to 5, as ADI and other campaigners united against the cruel product.

Banning foie gras is gaining traction across the country; we must maintain the momentum. Review the status of foie gras laws in the U.S. here.

After a week in Old Chapel Vet Clinic under observation with Dr Caldwell, Sasha returned to ADIWS in a lively mood. Her blood tests were good, no problems, and she’s been eagerly eating her food. Clearly, she enjoyed her hospital hotel stay!

The Department of Defense (DOD) has labs in Thailand, Peru, and the US, which conduct horrific fire trauma training experiments on live animals. Bill H.R. 6514 Protecting Animals in Military Training Act, would require the DOD to replace, when viable, the use of “live animals, including dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, and marine mammals…in any live fire trauma training conducted by the Department of Defense…with advanced simulators, mannequins, cadavers, or actors”.

Urge your legislators to support Bill H.R. 6514.

Hunting with dogs remains legal in Northern Ireland despite bans in England, Scotland and Wales. The good news is that the ‘Hunting with Dogs Bill’ passed its Second Stage by 60 votes to 15 in the Northern Ireland Assembly. If approved, the bill will not only ban hunting wild mammals with dogs but also trail hunting.

Trail hunting involves a scent trail laid for hunters to follow without chasing a live animal, but this cover has been repeatedly used to evade bans, and foxes are regularly hunted and killed. Our thanks to everyone who joined ADI and participated in the UK government’s recent public consultation on hunting laws, which included proposals to ban trail hunting. We await their response.

Take action here

The Coosa Valley Spring Fair took place at the end of May in Rome, Georgia and hosted the Banana Derby. This horrific spectacle has two frightened capuchin monkeys strapped onto dogs “like jockeys” as the dogs race around makeshift tracks.

Contact the fair organizers at web@coosavalleyfair.com and urge them not to host the Banana Derby next year and to adopt an animal-free policy.

A petition to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission (CPW) to introduce a ban on all commercial sales of furbearing species is scheduled to be heard for initial consideration during the July 16-17 CPW meeting.

If you live in CO, please join AD in submitting comments to urge CPW to adopt the ban and protect animals from the cruel fur industry! Written comments can be submitted here before July 9 and reach out to commission members.

After a two-year hiatus commercial Icelandic whaling company Hvalur hf. announced plans to go ahead with the 2026 whaling season. This came just months after Norway announced its highest whaling quota in years, of 1,641 minke whales. These huge, sentient, intelligent animals have slow maturation and low reproductive rates meaning populations are slow to recover from any threats. Write to the Norwegian officials and Icelandic officials demanding an end to whale hunting.

VICTORY! After ADI Colombia’s two-year campaign, Bill 06/24S – 466/25C passed its final House of Representatives committee, making sex acts with animals and online distribution of videos of such abuse, a criminal offence. Importantly, amendments promoted by ADI were approved, to increase prison sentences and fines for these sickening crimes. The bill will now be reconciled in Congress, then forwarded for Presidential approval.

To help us continue with our campaigns, rescue, and sanctuary work, Please donate here.

We remain optimistic that cargo flights out of Israel to bring our rescued lions BenTzur and Ori are going to resume soon, although, another week has passed with no news. Despite all the talk in the media about the Memorandum of Understanding which everyone hopes will lead to an actual peace deal, the region remains gridlocked due to the war, and so we wait. And the boys are growing, fast!

We remain on high alert, keeping in touch with the relevant parties, and we will seize the first opportunity to bring the boys to their new life, home in Africa, at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary.

After they were seized, BenTzur and Ori have remained in the zoo which provided a place of safety until a home could be found, so, they have now waited for over a year. You will recall we only took over the rescue in February. The Israel wildlife officials have sent us these recent video clips.

As you will see, they are going to be very big boys, and will never have walked or rolled about in grass, run at full speed, never seen other wildlife, nor open sky. Never conversed with other lions. They will hear the morning and evening roaring songs and will learn to join in. They have good teachers at ADIWS – across the road are Rey Ayacucho, Kesari, and Chino and Coco.

We know from previous experience they will start to run, explore, express themselves, take charge of their new territory. They will build muscle chasing around, exploring their new habitat, meeting the local rabbits, mongooses, hares, ground squirrels and other inhabitants. They will fall asleep each night under the African sky in the land of their ancestors, surrounded by their own kind.

Nothing stands still at ADIWS. We have been joined by four adorable barn owl chicks this week. A farmer nearby called us after finding the four chicks had fallen down the back of a grain silo; the parents had not been seen for several days, so feared poisoned or shot and the chicks were getting into serious difficulties.

Brent, ADIWS Wildlife & Education Director, has experience rearing and returning birds to the wild and has taken in the four (as yet unnamed), chicks (suggestions for names are welcome). They are gorgeous, already eating well and we will report on their progress with regular “Owl Watch” videos.

As the line from the movie Field of Dreams goes, “If you build it, they will come” – this could have been written about our Non-Predator Reception Area which has a regular stream of new residents needing our help – calves, goats, peacocks, baby and adult tortoises, antelope (like Springbok Percy and Daisy) and more.

Events outside of our control this year have put a lot of pressure on us. We took in the two lions, Lei-ah and Elsa, covering all food, veterinary and care costs, for what is now expected to be at least a year. The ladies filled our 2.5-acre Stephi quarantine habitat, so this presented a problem for the rescue of Ben and Ori, which we took over at short notice.

The only way to provide homes for everyone has been to move several residents around, but we had to make modifications to their new habitats, costing tens of thousands of dollars. Watch the video of Muheeb, Saif, Dhubiya and Aziza moving into new homes here

The war in the middle east has sent fuel and transport costs rocketing, impacting everything we do, supplies, transport, fencing. Most significantly, the move of Ori and BenTzur is expected to now become our most expensive rescue, per animal.  We must raise $40,000 just to cover their relocation costs, including flights, ground transport, airport fees. Demand for space on flights is huge, so we need to be ready to act fast and seize the first opportunity.

We are still a long way short of our appeal target, so please help if you can. 

BenTzur and Ori have waited too long for their new life, please help bring them home.

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