It began, almost certainly, in a bat. Then, just as SARS jumped to civets from bats, the virus that causes COVID-19 passed to another mammal, possibly a pangolin. Finally, late last year, the new coronavirus most likely jumped to humans in a wildlife market in Wuhan, China, a densely populated city...

When you filled out our All Animals reader survey last year, many of you had the same question: Beyond making donations, how can I help animals in my day-to-day life? We’ve got good news! There are plenty of easy ways you and your family can help from home, both by making small lifestyle adjustments...

My husband and I were contemplating whether to hike the 3-mile trail in Utah’s Zion National Park that September day. I’d read that this trail was our best chance to spot bighorn sheep, but after a week of exploring the five national parks in the state, our bodies were tired—and it was already late...

WARNING: This page contains graphic content. Editor's note: In late August, as mink on fur farms in the Netherlands continued to fall sick with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans, the Dutch government announced that it would require all mink fur farms to close by March of 2021...

WASHINGTON—Animal protection and conservation groups sent notice today of their intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for missing its deadline to decide whether the common hippopotamus should be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The deadline results from a 2022 petition...

Writing our annual year-end review is no easy task. We sift through mountains of data, read through reports and try to choose just a few victories that capture the incredible breadth of work we do here at the Humane Society family of organizations. This year, we’re trying something different: We...

WASHINGTON—Animal welfare and conservation non-profit, Born Free USA, working in collaboration with Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States, has today released a shocking undercover investigation exposing the cruelty of animal trapping, including for the fur trade...

LOS ANGELES ―Today, the Humane Society of the United States released an undercover investigation identifying a handful of California retailers openly skirting the law by selling new fur products. Assemblymember Laura Friedman authored Assembly Bill 44, which passed in 2019 and makes it illegal to...

The Humane Society of the United States was founded to tackle animal welfare challenges that were historically beyond the reach of local organizations, supplement the essential work of animal shelters and rescues by addressing the root causes of animal cruelty, advocate for stronger laws to ensure...

Sitting on her porch in the desert one afternoon while recovering from surgery, Christine Hass closed her eyes. The operation to fix her detached retina had been difficult, and she sought respite from the lingering pain. “Suddenly I could hear all the birds singing. It was March—the migrants were...

Beavers are making a comeback. Nearly driven to extinction by the fur trade, nature’s best architects are now 6–12 million strong in the United States. This return will provide significant benefits to our country’s ecology, which has lost much of its wetlands to development and agriculture. Learn...

A humane backyard is a safe haven for wildlife—a space where animals can thrive free from pesticides, trapping and other threats.

We take on the biggest threats to all creatures, great and small. Here are some of the issues we work on.

This year has seen incredible wins for animals despite a steady onslaught of Congressional threats and agency rollbacks. On the one hand, there have been attempts to roll back protections for wild animals, like native carnivores in Alaska, and attacks on the Endangered Species Act. The U.S...