By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson Slaughterhouses in the United States are already allowed to kill pigs at a lightning speed of up to 1,106 animals per hour. Under a new federal rule announced today, some of these facilities can dial up those speeds even further, with no limit whatsoever, creating an...

When residents reported hearing harrowing yelps and screams coming from a nearby farm on Jindo Island in South Korea, local authorities investigated. What they found were the typical heart-wrenching scenes of a dog meat farm. I am acquainted with sounds like these. When I have visited these dog meat...

In a promising move for animal welfare, South Korean Democratic Party Assembly Member Jeoung-ae Han has introduced a legislative bill—called a Special Act—that, if passed, would end South Korea’s dog meat industry. Han’s bill, which is cosponsored by 11 other legislators, would outlaw the breeding...

Whatever doubt there may have been before, the situation is now crystal clear. The battle over California’s Proposition 12 and the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (or some other approach to blocking Proposition 12 through the Farm Bill) has been joined, and we’re in the thick of it.

A bill introduced in California this week would end all trophy hunting of bobcats, making the Golden State the first in the union to move decisively to protect one of our country’s most iconic native carnivores. Assembly bill 1254, introduced by Assembly Member Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles...

North Atlantic right whales are among the most critically endangered animals on the planet today. There are fewer than 440 left on earth, and their mortality rates are high: at least 20 individual right whales died in U.S. and Canadian waters during 2017 and 2018 and no calves were born during this...

Only a few years ago, it may have appeared unfathomable for McDonald’s to make a commitment to use 100% cage-free eggs in its restaurants, or for poultry giant Perdue to announce game-changing reforms for chickens raised for meat. One might have never imagined entire states, including California...

In recent months, China has made rapid progress toward quashing its infamous wildlife and dog meat trades. Last week, we got more good news on this front: China officially confirmed that dogs are pets and are not livestock for eating; and Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus is believed to have...

There is unprecedented focus on the challenges of animal welfare in China in the wake of COVID -19. The sharpening international scrutiny of its wildlife markets and wildlife trade will shake up animal protection policy in China and around the world. The news that a new classification scheme issued...

An act of bravery has saved 68 dogs just hours before slaughter, and we have local animal activists in China to thank. The rescue happened outside the city of Yulin, the site of the infamous dog meat “festival,” which takes place each year as the summer solstice begins. Activists flagged down a...

I know there’s been a lot of discussion on this blog recently about dog meat. As with any battle for a more humane future, the campaigning and advocacy work to end the dog meat trade requires persistence and strength of heart, which can require years of work. At times, the fight for a more humane...

Earlier this month, an emaciated mountain lion found his way into a condominium complex in Vail, Colorado. Images show a very scared, skinny cat with light spots, indicating that he was still very young and not old enough to survive on his own. This mountain lion, with no mother in sight, was likely...

With fewer than 360 North Atlantic right whales surviving on earth today, the clock is ticking for these marine mammals. Today, the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund, along with our coalition partners, asked the National Marine Fisheries Service to take urgent...

In September last year, an HSUS undercover investigation of a Petland store in Frisco, Texas, a city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, revealed frail and ailing puppies, including some dogs too sick to eat and suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. Also among the gruesome discoveries was a...

The Chinese wildlife trade is mired in long-held beliefs about the benefits of eating exotic and often endangered animals for good health. But the reality stands in stark contrast. The markets in China where live wild animals, including endangered species like pangolins, are bought and sold have...

The dog meat festival in Yulin, China, begins this Friday. However, dogs and cats, either stolen from their owners or plucked from the streets, are already being mercilessly bludgeoned to death or electrocuted before being cooked and served up as food in the city’s restaurants. As we do each year...

Indonesia’s first-ever prosecution of dog meat traders under animal health and food safety laws represents another milestone in the global campaign to protect dogs from being slaughtered for food. A district attorney on the island of Java recently confirmed plans to prosecute dog traders intercepted...

I’m a mom and an animal protection advocate, and when I think about the health of our planet I can’t help but do so as someone who wants the best for my child and the billions of other young people whose lives depend on better Earth stewardship and care. They deserve to live on a planet that is full...

I am at Project Chimps today, a sanctuary in Georgia for retired research chimpanzees, visiting with the animals here and their amazing caretakers and staff. There are 59 chimpanzees on this beautiful, 236-acre forested sanctuary nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains and supported by the Humane...

Americans are taking a stand against one of the gravest assaults on animal welfare, unfolding right now in the U.S. Congress, where a radical faction of the pork industry is pushing to include the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R. 4417/S. 2019) in the Farm Bill. We’re not going...