Top 10 Victories for Animals in 2010

With all the ongoing battles to protect animals, it's easy to get discouraged about our prospects for a compassionate society. But there are a lot of victories in this movement, too, and though there's always more work to be done, sometimes you just need to take a moment to celebrate.

This is that moment. Here are ten victories from the past year to inspire us to head into the new year with new hope for helping animals.

National Victories for Animals

BP Stops Burning Sea Turtles Alive: When the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Animal Welfare Institute learned that BP was burning endangered sea turtles alive in the oil spill clean-up, they threatened to sue. In midst of the PR nightmare of the spill, that threat — along with thousands of emails sent to BP — got the company's attention and rescuers were able to start saving turtles.

Crush Video Industry Gets Crushed: Most people had never heard of crush videos before the ban was overturned by the Supreme Court. Animal protection groups and lawmakers dedicated to doing away with the sick fetishist industry didn't leave the legislative gap open for long, and a new and improved law was quickly passed.

Compassionate Consumers Protected From Falsely Labeled Fur: Due to a loophole in fur labeling laws, as long as people were buying fur worth less than $150, they could be told it was faux. The Humane Society of the United States exposed the falsely labeled fur and pressured Congress to cinch that loophole to protect consumers and animals.

Service Dogs Freed from Breed Discrimination: In July, the Department of Justice ruled that cities can't use breed specific legislation against service dogs, forcing cities across the country to re-evaluate their breed bans or risk being in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Congress Helps Keep Sharks Out of Soup: Although the practice of slicing off fins off live sharks and dumping the bodies back in the ocean was already banned, that legal net was full of holes. Wildlife groups like Oceana fought hard to get federal shark protection some teeth, and just before the holidays, they were given the gift of the Shark Conservation Act.

Local Victories (that could end up helping animals everywhere)

Oakland Police Take Steps to Stop Dog Shootings: Officer Shoots Family Pet became an all-too-familiar headline this year. After two high-profile incidents of innocent animals losing their lives, and emails from nearly 2,000 Change.org community members, Oakland Police paired up with the East Bay SPCA to create an intensive, mandatory training program on animal behavior and handling that departments across the U.S. would do well to copy.

Nation's First Animal Abuser Registry Enacted: Earlier this year, the Animal Legal Defense Fund launched a campaign to create animal abuser registries. City and state officials across the country picked up on the idea, but Suffolk County, NY was first to the finish line. We're sure to see more of these registries cropping up next year (maybe even in your area).

832 Charges Filed for Cruelty Against Pigs: Nearly 1,000 charges of any kind is unusual, but when it comes to farm animal cruelty, it's pretty much unheard of. But Fulton County, Pennsylvania officials concluded that over 800 pigs left locked in a barn to die was anything but normal, even by animal agriculture standards, and they filed a charge for every body they counted.

Coexistence Becomes the Law for Urban Wildlife: Washington, D.C. City Council unanimously passed some of the strongest wildlife protections in the country. Under the new legislation, inhumane traps and killing methods aren't allowed, and relocation and rehabilitation become the law.

Garland Animal Shelter Dismantles Gas Chamber: Although outlawed in several states, shelters across the country still use gas chambers to kill homeless pets. Until recently, Garland Animal Shelter in Texas was one of them. But after a year of protests by local activists, and over 2,000 emails from Change.org community members, the gas chamber was dismantled, replaced with a commitment to only use humane methods of euthanasia.

As local advocate Dr. John Pippin told the Dallas News when the Garland gas chamber came down: "You can fight city hall." You are the animals' voice and these victories prove that it does make a difference when you speak out for them.

Photo credit: PhyreWorX