Friends of Animals
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Friends of Animals (FoA) is a non-profit international animal advocacy organization, established in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1957, working to free animals around the world from cruelty and institutionalized exploitation. The organization's headquarters is in
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, with an additional office in
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.


Founding

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." The organization states that it has assisted in more than 2.5 million spay/neuter procedures. 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. The current president is Priscilla Feral.


Fighting animal testing

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 Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This ...
in research, along with the development of a National Center for Alternatives Research. The bill was ultimately defeated. Animal law professor
Gary Francione Gary Lawrence Francione (born May 1954) is an American academic in the fields of law and philosophy. He is Board of Governors Professor of Law and Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He is also a visitin ...
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.


Primarily Primates

In 2006, the organization came to the defense of operators of
Primarily Primates 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 ...
, a sanctuary near
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, that housed "hundreds of chimpanzees, monkeys and other animals that had outlived their usefulness as research subjects, movie props or pets." After
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities have ...
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. 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.


Wildlife Law Program

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
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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. 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."Friends of Animals Win: African Antelope Shielded From Safari Club and Trophy Tourists"
Friends of Animals, July 23, 2009.


See also

*
List of animal rights groups This list of animal rights groups consists of groups in the animal rights movement. Such animal rights groups work towards their ideals, which include the viewpoint that animals should have equivalent rights to humans, such as not being "used" in ...


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control Animal welfare organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Connecticut Environmental organizations established in 1957 1957 establishments in New York City