In a victory that will likely prevent significant suffering for millions of farm animals, the Supreme Court today snuffed out efforts by the factory farming lobby and associated interests to overturn landmark laws against cage confinement in California and Massachusetts, and a California ban on the...

In a heinous move that defies both science and common sense, the United States has prematurely lifted federal protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states, giving them carte blanche to open trophy hunting seasons on these beloved native carnivores. The Department of the Interior bulldozed this...

President Trump’s pardon of Joe Exotic is an affront to animal-loving Americans, Republican, Democrat and independent, and it will be viewed with outrage today and for many years to come. Joe Exotic, a.k.a. Joseph Maldonado Passage is a serial tiger abuser/killer who was serving a 22-year sentence...

The U.S. House today approved many key animal protection reforms, including measures designed to rein in horse soring, combat wildlife trafficking and help enforce animal cruelty laws, as part of Congress's annual appropriations process. Members also prohibited the use of federal funds for...

The U.S. House has just approved provisions that would make highways safer for wildlife to cross and create safer conditions to transport horses across the country, as part of the Moving Forward Act, a package of reforms designed to restore America’s aging infrastructure. The measures approved today...

For many years now, Humane Society International has been at the forefront of a hot war against the dog and cat meat trade across Asia. We have taken on many high-profile fights and we’ve made tremendous progress, from pushing back hard against China’s Yulin dog meat festival to shuttering dog meat...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson In a major victory for our campaign to protect wild horses and burros, the United States this week reinstated important safeguards that will prevent unscrupulous kill buyers from purchasing large numbers of these iconic American animals and funneling them to...

Giraffes, whose populations in the wild have plummeted by 40 percent over the last three decades, may qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act, according to a finding announced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today. The agency’s announcement comes in response to a legal petition...

Grizzly bears in the lower 48 states should retain their current protections under the Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the primary federal agency that makes decisions on the conservation of wildlife species. This is encouraging news for these native...

The Trump administration has just delivered a one-two punch to Alaska’s wildlife: it has announced that it will release a final National Park Service rule allowing some of the cruelest practices for killing black bears, wolves and other wildlife on national preserve lands in Alaska; and it has...

In a pathbreaking announcement that signals a certain end to the cruel practice of testing cosmetics on animals, the industry giant Unilever – maker of such popular brands as Dove, Degree and TRESemmé -- today announced it will support a global ban on such testing, in collaboration with Humane...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it will issue a proposed rule to strip Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in all of the lower 48 states, further jeopardizing animals in a fragile state of recovery after years of persecution. The proposed rule, announced by...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson Slaughterhouses in the United States are already allowed to kill pigs at a lightning speed of up to 1,106 animals per hour. Under a new federal rule announced today, some of these facilities can dial up those speeds even further, with no limit whatsoever, creating an...

In a long-awaited move, the U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced important reforms to tighten licensing requirements to prevent those who mistreat animals in their care from carrying on business as usual. All dealers and exhibitors, including puppy breeders and roadside zoos will now need...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson The U.S. Department of Agriculture today proposed a new rule to close a loophole in the law that allows puppy breeders and roadside zoo exhibitors whose licenses have been revoked for severe and multiple Animal Welfare Act violations to continue doing business as...

Utah has just passed a law prohibiting the confinement of egg-laying hens in tiny wire enclosures known as “battery cages,” becoming the eighth U.S. state to do so. Just moments ago, Gov. Spencer Cox signed the bill—which the state’s legislature passed earlier this month—marking another major...

Virginia’s Gov. Ralph Northam has just signed into law bills that would ban new cosmetics animal testing and sales of animal-tested cosmetics in his state. Virginia joins three U.S. states that already have similar laws on their books. In 2018 California became the first state to prohibit the sale...

Washington has just outlawed wildlife killing contests—the seventh state to do so in the past six years. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 7-2 this morning to pass a rule ending these gruesome spectacles where participants kill large numbers of wild animals simply for the thrill and...

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has just signed into law the strongest protections for egg-laying hens ever passed in any state legislature. This historic win will benefit approximately eight million hens each year, freeing them from cage confinement by the end of 2023. The measure builds upon our...

Wellesley, Massachusetts, has said a resounding “no” to fur. The town voted 140 to 64 last night (with two abstentions) to pass a ban on new fur sales, proposed by Liza Oliver, a district leader volunteer with the Humane Society of the United States. If the Massachusetts attorney general approves...