The dog in the picture above exemplifies just how much is wrong with the way the American Kennel Club, which touts itself as a champion of dogs, goes about its business. She was recently rescued from an AKC breeder in Caldwell County, North Carolina, along with more than 30 other dogs. When her...

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...

Our  fight to stop the sale of puppy mill puppies in pet stores is coming to a head in Florida, a state in which we’ve helped to pass over 80 local ordinances prohibiting those sales. A new bill in its state legislature, SB 994/HB 849, would void popular  pet store ordinances recently enacted in...

If you follow our stories here on this blog or on our social platforms or email lists, you are probably familiar with the central calling that keeps us working day after day: to stand up and fight for all animals who are suffering. You’ve probably heard about our efforts around the globe to protect...

Note: This blog is part of a series highlighting how we fight—and win—for animals . This post focuses on our direct care, rescue and sanctuary work. Previous posts have covered how we’re ending the worst forms of institutionalized animal suffering through our efforts with corporations and...

Humane Society International rescuers are on the ground in Quebec today, assisting with a massive seizure of more than 200 wild animals, including lions, tigers, zebras, bears, camels and kangaroos, from an unaccredited roadside zoo. Earlier today, the zoo operator was arrested by the Montreal SPCA...

Last year, Officer Stevie Hargenrater, a humane officer in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, was called to a property where she found a dead Rottweiler and a small sheltie mix in terrible condition. The officer had recently participated in the Humane Society of the United States’ training for law...

Our work to tackle the puppy mill scourge is multifaceted and includes a range of tactics. We appeal to consumers to adopt animals from rescue groups and animal shelters, or to adopt from responsible breeders. We persuade pet stores to discontinue their reliance on puppy mills as a source of animals...

Last week, members of our Animal Rescue Team assisted law enforcement authorities with the rescue of more than 20 dogs and puppies from an alleged neglect situation at a residential property in Vidalia, in northeast Louisiana along the Mississippi River. This situation was one of many our Animal...

For more than a decade, our Animal Protection Litigation team, a talented group of attorneys who use the law to advance the cause of animal protection, has been one of our most effective divisions. Each year, they file lawsuits and legal petitions to support our advocacy campaigns, draft numerous...

Our Animal Protection Litigation team plays a critical role at the Humane Society of the United States, filing lawsuits and legal petitions to support our major campaigns, drafting language for state and federal animal protection bills and ballot measures, and defending animal protection laws once...

Each year, our campaigns work on a multitude of issues related to improving the lives of companion animals, including dogs, cats and horses. In 2019, we made incredible gains on this front, culminating with the signing of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act into law in November. The...

Each December, we round up some of the year’s most notable successes in carrying on the fight for animal protection. For the next several weeks, alongside breaking news about animals and our efforts to protect them, I will bring you our top animal protection victories during this most unusual year...

In May last year, our Animal Rescue Team was on site to help local law enforcement officials with the largest cockfighting bust in U.S. history, in Val Verde, Los Angeles County. It was a gruesome scene, even for our staff members, most of whom are accustomed to seeing the worst kind of animal...

We have good news to share from Mississippi and Iowa, the only two states in the nation without a law on the books that would make acts of animal torture, like burning, drowning and intentional starvation, an automatic felony. Recently, Mississippi’s state legislature passed a bill that would do...

Missouri has finally moved to close down a puppy mill owner who’s been on the radar of federal and state inspectors for more than two decades for serious neglect of animals in her facility. Marilyn Shepherd (a.k.a. Marilyn Williams) and her Cedercrest Kennel (a.k.a. Pup 4 U) had operated without a...

In June, Humane Society of the United States responders were called in to assist with the rescue of more than 150 horses, mini-horses, mules and donkeys on a property in Camp County, Texas. Among the animals were nine mustangs, who had been removed from the wild. All of the animals our responders...

In the years since its passage more than half a century ago, the Animal Welfare Act has become an extremely important and multi-faceted animal protection law. Building on its original premise as a measure to protect animals used in research, testing and education, the AWA’s protections have evolved...

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about Proposition 12, California’s landmark law to address animal cruelty and public health issues stemming from the worst factory farming practices, such as confining pregnant pigs in gestation crates so small they can hardly move. Jon Lovvorn...

Our Animal Rescue Team is on the ground in parts of Florida that were ravaged by Hurricane Michael. We are coordinating the movement of adoptable dogs and cats out of shelters affected by the storm and to shelters in other parts of the country, making room for animals who started to flow in before...