Cockfighting is an age-old practice in which two or more specially bred birds, known as gamecocks, are placed in an enclosed pit to fight for the primary purposes of gambling and entertainment. A typical cockfight can last anywhere from several minutes to more than half an hour and usually results...

Cockfighting—the brutal spectacle that pits specially bred roosters against each other in a bloody fight to the death—makes the news occasionally. The cruelty behind the headlines is always the same. In November, for example, law enforcement officers in Indiana, assisted by rescuers from the Humane...

Scientists have just begun to scratch the surface when it comes to understanding bird brains. But studies have shown what backyard chicken caregivers already know: The world’s most most intensively farmed animal has remarkable cognitive abilities.

FORT WAYNE, Indiana —The Humane Society of the United States is assisting the Indiana Gaming Commission with the seizure of more than 100 roosters and hens from an alleged cockfighting operation in Wells County, Indiana. The Wells County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, Ossian Police...

In 2019, Sara Shields, in southern India for workshops with Humane Society International colleagues, drove into the countryside near Bangalore to visit industrial chicken operations. At the first farm she stopped at, she saw hundreds of white-feathered birds in long open-sided barns with burlap...

Important considerations before getting chickens as pets

A pending bill in the Maryland legislature would ban the use of cruel cages and require eggs sold in Maryland to come from cage-free hens. Now is the time to protect Maryland families and say no to animal cruelty!

See the difference between cage-free egg production and battery-cage egg production.

Around the world, animals used for meat, eggs and dairy often suffer on factory farms where they are treated as units of production rather than living, feeling creatures. The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International present comprehensive reports on animal agribusiness and...

Contents What is the Humane Society of the United States doing to help farm animals? What are some of the biggest problems farm animals face? Aren't there laws that protect farm animals from abuse? What are ag-gag bills? Don't animals have to be treated well to be productive? What can I do to help...

The overwhelming majority of meat, eggs and dairy sold in the United States come from industrial factory farms where animals are housed in ruthlessly small spaces and subjected to other cruel treatment. Packaging for animal products frequently contains phrases or images meant to signify higher...

Imagine a chicken. Picture her downy white feathers and small, intense eyes. Maybe she’s sitting on a nest, softly clucking. Perhaps she’s scratching in the dirt, a quaint red barn in silhouette behind her. Cows graze contentedly nearby; a pig snuffles in the mud. It’s an idyllic vision, familiar...

There’s a surprisingly simple way to make a big difference in the lives of animals: incorporating more plant-based foods. The more plants you eat, the more animals you’ll spare from lives of suffering. Fewer mother pigs will be kept in crates so small they can barely move. Fewer egg-laying hens will...