Black Beauty Ranch—which is the world-renowned sanctuary for rescued animals operated by the Humane Society of the United States—becomes another beacon of light for humane treatment of animals in the growing network of the Trust’s Humane Stewardship Alliance lands. With over 1,400 acres in Murchison...
It seemed like a good idea at the time: Buy a house with a two-acre property, let our energetic herding dog have the run of the place and spend blissful summer days digging side by side in the dirt with her. And it was blissful, watching Mattie carve out her napping spots behind the ferns and tall...
On summer evenings, my husband and I head to the darkest spot of our property to look for the light—in the form of fireflies rising from meadow grasses and twinkling their way into the trees. As the tulip poplars behind this spectacular display settle in for slumber, white yucca flowers open their...
Somewhere toward the end of the last ice age, we formed an alliance with wolves: Maybe the ancestors of dogs got food scraps while our own ancestors gained protection from predators and other humans. These social species eventually collaborated on a vast scale, possibly even hunting woolly mammoths...
Teddy was never meant to have a name. He was born a number, just one of tens of thousands of dogs—mostly beagles like him, chosen for their trusting, docile nature and compact size—bred in the United States for use in experiments each year. Teddy was meant to live and die in a laboratory, without...
One of the Humane Stewardship Alliance’s newest members—Nirvana Ridge Wildlife Refuge—is a 170-acre property in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Here, Karen Lamb, Refuge founder and a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, provides safe habitat for wildlife and essential care for orphaned, sick...
The term “roadkill” was coined in the 1940s, according to Merriam-Webster, entering the lexicon alongside “DDT” and other harbingers of a dystopian technological age that runs roughshod over the natural world. In the 1990s, the word became a cheeky insult when a rival called then-House Speaker Newt...
It starts out mildly enough: Heading to work on the subway, you realize you forgot your wallet. No big deal, you think. I’ll borrow money to get home. Soon the lights go out and the train hurtles toward the sky, speeding through the atmosphere. Time passes—it’s hard to tell how long. The subway is...
Pop quiz: What’s the best way to help butterflies in your backyard? If you answered “Plant butterfly bush,” you’re in good company. A recent survey of my gardening friends elicited the same response from more than a few. It’s easy to understand why: Aside from its self-reinforcing moniker, the plant...
WASHINGTON —Today, the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration requesting that the agency updates regulations to make clear that animal testing is not legally required for drug approval. The petition also requests...
Many Marches ago, as I mindlessly contorted myself to pull a deep-rooted weed from the garden patch, my thoughts turned longingly to the smell of fresh basil that would eventually grace what I saw as a still-barren vegetable graveyard. This spot was not so lifeless as it appeared, I would soon learn...