During the past 16 years, under Dr. Elliot Katz' direction, In Defense of Animals has grown to be one of the nation's foremost animal advocacy organizations,with 75,000 members, dedicated to ending institutionalized abuse of animals by defending their rights, welfare and habitat. The group's many accomplishments include: saving hundreds of dogs and cats by organizing rescue operations following the Oakland/Berkeley firestorm, liberating 40dolphins held captive off the coast of Japan, rescuing 180 beagles scheduled for death in the dissection labs of the UC Davis veterinary school,canceling cocaine addiction research on monkeys at New York University and the bone-breaking experiments on retired racing greyhounds by the US Army.IDA's efforts, at various times, have been detailed on the McNeil-Lehrer Report, Nightline, Eye to Eye with Connie Chung and CNN News.