Delcianna Winders

CDC: Bird flu virus that infected Michigan dairy farmer capable of airborne transmission The strain of bird flu that infected a Michigan dairy worker in May 2024 is capable of airborne transmission, according to new research from the CDC.

Ahem -- New CDC research suggests the H5N1 avian influenza virus that infected a Michigan dairy farmworker **can be transmitted through the air.** www.freep.com/story/news/h...

How the Farm Industry Spied on Animal Rights Activists and Pushed the FBI to Treat Them as Terrorists For years, a powerful ‘Big Ag’ trade group served up information on activists to the FBI. Records reveal a decade-long effort to see the animal rights movement labeled a legitimate terrorism threat.

Confidential records obtained by WIRED & @propertyofthepeople.org show the ag industry deploying moles to infiltrate activist meetings, while functionally serving as FBI informants, in a shadow campaign to brand the animal rights movement America's biggest bioterrorism threat.

My latest @wired.com:

New Research: USDA Fails to Pursue Prosecutions of Slaughter Plants, Despite Repeat Violations Repeat violators of the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) continue to escape meaningful enforcement by the US Department of Agriculture, resulting in continued animal cruelty and sufferin...

New Research: USDA Fails to Pursue Prosecutions of Slaughter Plants, Despite Repeat Violations

awionline.org/press-releas...

12,000 chicks found abandoned in postal truck raise concerns about animal shipping A Delaware animal shelter is working to find new homes for 8,000 surviving chicks that were left abandoned in a U.S. Postal Service truck for three days. Another 4,000 of the animals died.

12,000 chicks found abandoned in postal truck raise concerns about animal shipping

www.npr.org/2025/05/20/n...

Changing Course: Meet 6 students with unusual paths to law school The ABA Journal is read by half of the nation's 1 million lawyers every month. It covers the trends, people and finances of the legal profession from Wall Street to Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.

Vermont Law & Graduate School alum Amanda Reyes (JD’24) is featured in a new ABA Journal article Changing Course, abt nontraditional paths to law school. Inspired by @peta.org’s Brittany Peet, Amanda joined us from Save the Chimps, where she was a care technician. www.abajournal.com/magazine/art...

To clarify, as the post is a bit confusing -- the dates for the Animal Law Media Fellowships are either May 29 through June 1 to audit our Undercover Investigations course, or July 28 to July 31 to audit our Animal Welfare Science and Ethics course (with some buffer days).

Summer at the Environmental Law Center Our Environmental Law Center offers leading courses, clinics & faculty, preparing future leaders in advocacy, energy, climate justice & sustainability.

Attention journalists -- applications for Vermont Law and Graduate School's Animal Law and Environmental Media Fellowships are due in three days (March 16)! Deets and link to app here: www.vermontlaw.edu/academics/ce...

I’m en route to Arkansas for the first time, to give this year’s
@uarkansas.bsky.social student @animallegaldefense.bsky.social chapter talk tomorrow — Animal Advocacy in an Era of Federal Deregulation

Screenshot of article from linked PDF. The text reads: "A STUDY OF WELFARE VIOLATIONS IN LABORATORIES JAEL, Vol. 16, No. 1 A STUDY OF WELFARE VIOLATIONS IN LABORATORIES: FAILURES OF FEDERAL OVERSIGHT UNDER THE HEALTH RESEARCH EXTENSION ACT OF 1985 *Amanda Elyse, **Alka Chandna, and ***Evelyn Wagaman"

A new study by @amandaelyse.bsky.social , Alka Chandna, & Evelyn Wagaman in the Louisville Law Journal of Animal and Environmental Law revealed that institutions using animals in experiments repeatedly fail to meet even the minimal #AnimalWelfare standards. 🧵 drive.google.com/file/d/1nrqp...

How a Group of Immigrant Farmworkers is Preparing for Avian Flu to Hit New York Dairy Farms Amid heightened fears of immigration raids, Alianza Agricola has spent months educating hundreds of their coworkers on how to prepare for an avian flu outbreak.

I profiled the vital work of Alianza Agricola, a group of dairy farmworkers in New York, as they prepare for the rising possibility of avian flu hitting their workplaces.

They said that none of their employers have provided them with information on the virus.

sentientmedia.org/immigrant-fa...

Breaking — New USDA Office of Inspector General report yet again condemns the agency’s implementation of the Animal Welfare Act usdaoig.oversight.gov/sites/defaul...

Anthropodenialism!

In January, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled five elephants lacked legal standing to sue to leave their captivity at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo because they are not people. Delcianna J. Winders from the Vermont Animal Law and Policy Institute explains why. kimstallwood.substack.com

Will the Endangered Species Act survive Trump? President Trump has already begun to introduce changes that weaken the Endangered Species Act, a cornerstone of U.S. conservation law.

🧪Things almost lined up so that I had two Trump administration stories in one day, but instead you get two over two days (to spread out the shock?). For @scinews.bsky.social, a look at how the ESA might fare in the coming years.
www.sciencenews.org/article/enda...

200 law professors from across the country have signed on to a Statement of Urgency about the peril of the constitutional crisis that is now upon us. Complete list of signers below. Please read and repost!! Thank you!

First U.S. bird flu death reported in Louisiana after severe case of H5N1 The Louisiana patient was hospitalized with a severe case of bird flu in the first death in the U.S. caused by the H5N1 virus.

First U.S. bird flu death reported in Louisiana after severe case of H5N1 www.cbsnews.com/news/bird-fl...

579 animals at exotic pet store killed in shopping center fire local12.com/amp/news/nat...

Davis concludes that the best way to save the monarch population is, well, to leave them alone. He says you can plant native flowering plants along the migration path if you like, but skip the non-native milkweed and don't bring the eggs or caterpillars inside.

New Monarch Butterfly Protection Status: Necessary Conservation or Government Overreach?

"All of the evidence we have shows that when monarchs are reared in a captive environment, either indoors or outdoors, they’re not as good at migrating," said Andy Davis, an assistant research scientist in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology, who authored the study. pjmedia.com/sarah-anders...

Bird flu virus shows mutations in first severe human case in US, CDC says The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations not seen in samples from an infected backyard flock on the patient's property.

Bird flu virus shows mutations in first severe human case in US, CDC says www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Pet food sold in 12 states pulled from stores after Oregon cat dies from bird flu-tainted chow Northwest Naturals of Portland is recalling a batch of its two-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for H5N1.

Pet food sold in 12 states pulled from stores after cat dies from bird flu-tainted chow www.sacbee.com/news/recalls...

H5N1 sickens Iowa poultry worker, virus strikes more cats, wild birds, and poultry

H5N1 sickens Iowa poultry worker, virus strikes more cats, wild birds, and poultry www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influe...

What Animal Advocates Are Bracing for With Trump's Return An interview with Delci Winders, director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

“It’s hard to overstate the extent to which Trump’s judicial appointments will impact animal law, and the many judicial appointments that are to come," says @delcianna.bsky.social.

Read the full conversation:

US animal lab from which monkeys escaped accused of widespread abuse AGI in South Carolina investigated by government after leaked files revealed traumatic injuries and animal deaths

Lab from which monkeys escaped accused of widespread abuse
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...

Poll: Which ABA Journal magazine cover from 2024 was your favorite? We covered a wide array of diverse, in-depth and hard-hitting legal topics at the ABA Journal this year.

Take two seconds to vote to support animal law in the American Bar Association's "Which ABA Journal magazine cover from 2024 was your favorite?" poll. The April-May cover features animal law ("All Creatures Great and Small"). www.abajournal.com/news/article...

And then there’s the issue of appalling abuse documented at facilities that the third-party certifies have approved.

The USDA’s own Office of Inspector General found that 15% of approved label applications were “incomplete, inaccurate, or unsupported.”

So often the documentation is just a short self serving statement. And in numerous instances the USDA has NO supporting documentation whatsoever, according to FOIA responses I’ve received.

How Animal Advocates Are Bracing for Trump’s Return - Truthdig An interview with Delci Winders, director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Animal advocates will need to pivot hard in many ways to keep up their legal advocacy efforts in the face of the incoming Trump Administration. I spoke with animal law expert @delcianna.bsky.social.

"We have created the infrastructure to facilitate the rapid spread of these viruses," Winders said.