Making the world a more humane place for animals is fundamentally a matter of changing hearts and minds. No progress for animals would be possible without shifting perception. Where once a person wearing a fur coat conveyed a sense of wealth and status, it is now an image of callous indifference in the face of incredible animal cruelty. But progress isn’t a straight shot: Every now and then a fad seems to take us a step backward.

It could have been a heartwarming story but it quickly turned into tragedy. Earlier this week, numerous media outlets reported that a moose swam across Lake Champlain, making it all the way from New York to Vermont. But once the animal reached the shore to rest, he was surrounded by a crowd of...

The Humane Society of the United States has been working to reduce and humanely resolve human-wildlife conflicts in urban areas for over three decades, and during this time – as development and urbanization have grown apace -- we have seen incidents continue to increase. Wild animals displaced by...

We’re fierce defenders of wildlife in the United States, and we made major strides on that front in 2018. We won major victories for grizzly bears and black bears, defeated attempts to remove federal protections for gray wolves, helped shine a spotlight on cruel wildlife killing contests, and...

Dogs and cats in Illinois laboratories will be saved from painful and outdated toxicity testing thanks to a first-of-its-kind law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday. Under the new law, it won’t be permissible to use dogs and cats in Illinois laboratories in toxicity testing—tests that attempt to...

It’s no secret that puppy and kitten mills treat dog and cat mothers and fathers like moneymaking machines, bred over and over with little to no regard for their health or well-being. It is simply no way for a dog or cat to live. The suffering of these animal families is what drives us in our work...

Over the last few days, COVID-19 has dramatically touched all of our lives. Like you, those of us here at the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International have had to modify our routines and schedules. Children are home from school. Family members and friends who may be more...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is one of the federal agencies with the most impact on animal protection issues. Who heads it can make all the difference to the wellbeing of millions of animals, including those in puppy mills, roadside zoos, factory farms, laboratories, horse show rings and in...

Our dynamic Farm Animal Protection team has been responsible for a seismic shift in how the country’s largest food companies address animal welfare. From Walmart, Safeway and Kroger, to Denny’s, IHOP and Panera Bread, to Smithfield and Perdue, major corporations have worked with us to enact...

The black bear affectionately known as Hank the Tank, whom authorities once thought responsible for 28 home invasions and 152 reports of conflict behavior in South Lake Tahoe, will be spared. DNA analysis of the scenes showed that at least two other bears had broken into some of the homes, and...

Update (12/4/2020): Following our letter, the Wisconsin DNR announced today that it will not open a wolf hunt in January 2021, potentially sparing the lives of hundreds of wolves. But the state still plans to open a wolf season in fall 2021, and other states may follow suit. We will continue our...

Wolves in the Northern Rockies may warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last week, largely because of extreme wolf-killing laws recently passed in Idaho and Montana. The agency’s decision comes in response to a legal petition the...

The World Health Organization is calling on nations to end wildlife markets because of the high risk they pose for the spread of pathogens like the coronavirus that can jump from animals to humans. This week, David Nabarro, a medical doctor and the special envoy on COVID-19 and special...

The world’s largest fur auction house says it will close its doors for good within the next three years, in yet another dramatic setback for this cruel trade that contributes to unnecessary suffering and death for millions of animals worldwide each year. Kopenhagen Fur, founded in 1930, acts as a...

Japan’s package of proposals seeking to upend the 33-year global commercial whaling moratorium was soundly rejected last week at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Florianopolis, Brazil, with more than 40 countries making it clear to the rogue nation, which continues whaling in defiance...

In a troubling lapse of moral accountability, a Wyoming state board will allow a man who killed a female wolf in the Grand Teton National Park and then dragged her body out of the park in violation of federal law to continue operating as a professional outfitter and hunting guide in the state. In...

State legislatures are again in session, and we’re busy in our push for the passage of animal protection laws across the country. In 2022, some 1,300 animal-related bills were introduced in the states, and dozens of valuable measures on both the state and federal levels passed. Highlights in the...

In the past few weeks, I’ve detailed our recent undercover investigations into gruesome wildlife killing contests in Illinois and Nevada. Nothing about these investigations is easy to see or hear. But I want to explain why we are so committed to exposing these events to the public and to lawmakers...

Once again, we are seeing heartbreaking visuals from Yulin, China, in the run-up to the annual dog meat “festival” there this Sunday. A video recorded by Humane Society International’s partners on the ground shows rows and rows of dog carcasses lying on tables or being butchered with cleavers, all...

It is the worst kind of wildlife abuse, and it is happening right now – again – in Zimbabwe, where 35 baby elephants have been torn away from their mothers in the wild and are awaiting export to zoos in China. According to The Times of London, the calves, some as young as two years old, are being...