Just as a historic freeze sent temperatures plummeting in Texas in February, overwhelming the state’s power grid, breaking pipes and leaving roads slick with ice, a strange call came into the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office near San Antonio. Someone said they heard an animal crying outside their...

BOSTON—Today the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development heard testimony on bills prohibiting the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes and bears in traveling exhibits and shows (H.3245 and S.2197/S.2189). This critical, bipartisan legislation serves to...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263) by a vote of 278 to 134. The bill would prohibit keeping tigers, lions and other big cat species as pets, and ban direct public contact like cub petting. Sponsored and championed by Rep. Michael Quigley...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263, Senate companion bill S. 1210) by unanimous consent. This follows the bill’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 29. The legislation prohibits keeping tigers, lions and other big cat species as pets, and...

The first time Tim Harrison rescued privately owned big cats was back in 1982. A public safety officer at the time, Harrison and other responders found a male lion pacing around a small enclosure, a lion cub who appeared severely ill, bears, snakes and other animals on an Ohio property. It was rare...

Danielle Tepper had always loved dolphins. When she went on vacation to Hawai'i, she knew she had to see them firsthand. Tepper—now a senior editor at the Humane Society of the United States—wanted to do it ethically, so she avoided captive dolphin attractions. Instead, she booked an excursion to...

MURCHISON, Texas—Five years ago, Humane Society International rescued over 200 wild exotic animals from decrepit, barren and disturbing conditions at St. Edouard Zoo, an unaccredited facility in Canada. The animals were taken to sanctuaries and qualified facilities throughout North America...

Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, released the following statements regarding today's races at Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore: “We are devastated by the tragic death of Havnameltdown on Preakness day. This fatality, alongside a series of losses of racehorses’...

WASHINGTON—Today, the House of Representatives approved the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R. 5441, by an overwhelming 304 to 111 bipartisan vote. The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund applaud this crucial vote to protect Tennessee walking horses and...

The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund have denounced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposal to withdraw a regulation to protect horses from the cruel and unlawful practice of “soring”, with no commitment to a timeline for implementing increased...

WASHINGTON—The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund are criticizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture for proposing to withdraw a regulation that would have protected horses from the cruel and unlawful practice of “soring.” In response to a May 12 order issued by...

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana’s law prohibiting direct public contact with big cats and bears goes into effect on July 1. Implementation of this law brings much needed protection for some of the animals who have been subjected to public handling and forced to live in abysmal facilities in the state...

NEW YORK—The Humane Society of the United States released the findings of a recent undercover investigation at Sloth Encounters in Hauppauge, New York, owned by Larry Wallach. The investigator captured disturbing footage of staff hitting sloths, stressed sloths kept in crowded conditions, sloths...

WASHINGTON—Following the recent spate of horse deaths at the Saratoga Race Course this summer, Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States released the following statement: “In a tragic and disturbing summer at the Saratoga Race Course, 11 horses have died. Many of...

Keith Dane, senior director of equine protection for the Humane Society of the United States released the following statement regarding tomorrow’s Triple Crown at Belmont in New York: “As we head into the final leg of the Triple Crown at Belmont in New York, we reflect on the string of horse deaths...

WASHINGTON—The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund commend the efforts to successfully prosecute individuals involved in a massive racehorse doping scandal. Seth Fishman, a veterinarian from Florida, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after a jury found him...

Waconia, MINNESOTA—On Aug. 10, the Humane Society of the United States attended the Carver County Fair Tiger Encounter exhibit to witness firsthand how the animals were being treated in a show that claims to raise awareness about the plight of tigers in the wild and their rapid rate to extinction...

CERRILLOS, New Mexico —The Humane Society of the United States’ Forever Foundation program held a clinic earlier this month at the Horse Shelter in New Mexico for trainers and volunteers from around the country to learn how to safely and efficiently work with their horses and prepare them for...

The Humane Society of the United States and several of its individual members involved in the Tennessee walking horse industry, together with Humane Society Legislative Fund, have prevailed in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that challenged the United...