As mom to an animal-loving daughter, it warms my heart to see stories of children who are working to make the world a better place for animals. We have all seen these on social media or maybe in our own homes and neighborhoods – children who ask for donations to animal shelters instead of birthday...

On Sunday, Hurricane Ida slammed into the Gulf Coast, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina’s landfall. Our Animal Rescue and Response team moved toward the strike zone, ready to assist animals in need. Bringing together supplies, equipment and personnel to support emergency response agencies...

In January, our Humane Society International/India team learned about eight puppies who were stuck in tar in the town of Tirur in the south Indian state of Kerala. The puppies, as you can see in the video below, were completely covered in the sticky black stuff that was fast hardening up around...

This week, we released footage from the most recent undercover investigation of five fur farms, this time in northern China, the source of most of the world’s fur. What we see is what we’ve come to expect with fur farm investigations: foxes, raccoon dogs and mink pacing their cages frantically, a repetitive behavior associated with mental decline, and filthy, feces-encrusted cages packed so close together that the risk of zoonotic disease spread was nearly palpable.

On the runways at the just-ended New York Fashion Week, there was pink tulle and tattered denim, black mesh and purple fringe, handmade kente cloth and 3D-printed metallic apparel. The Area brand used the opportunity to debut its faux fur gowns with imitation bones and puffer jackets printed to look...

I talk to the media pretty regularly about issues and threats facing animals today and about all that we’re doing to help them. The reality of the media world, though, means that these discussions often get boiled down into 10-second sound bites! Happily, for those who want a deeper look at both the...

The world’s largest wildlife trade conference has just wrapped up in Geneva and as our own Humane Society International team returns home, we are celebrating big wins for 135 wild animal species, including the giraffe, African elephant and southern white rhino. Delegates at the Conference of the...

Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for all of the wonderful people -- family members and friends -- who share our lives, and also for the animals who are so important to us. At the Humane Society of the United States, where we have a dogs-in-the workplace policy, the companion animals of friends...

This year for Thanksgiving, I’m in Texas at our expansive animal sanctuary, Black Beauty Ranch. Founded in 1979, Black Beauty Ranch is home to nearly 650 rescued animals. Some came from slaughterhouses or research laboratories or cases of extreme neglect. Others came from  roadside zoos or were...

For over a decade, we have been fighting hard to prevent the suffering and abuse of captive big cats, confronting a dangerous industry and the individuals who take advantage of these animals. And we celebrated in December of last year when President Biden signed the Big Cat Public Safety Act into...

Good news in our work means animals thrive and we therefore celebrate it. That’s how it was for me this morning when I woke up to the report that there will be no whaling in Iceland this summer. Something my colleagues at Humane Society International and I have fought since Iceland resumed whaling...

In a victory for rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats and all animals used for testing, Louisiana is the latest state to take steps to end the cruel and unnecessary use of animals to test cosmetics. Eight other states ( California, Nevada, Illinois, Virginia, Maryland, Maine, Hawaii and New Jersey) have...

We begin our work in 2022 encouraged by the knowledge that a handful of significant animal protection laws at the state level have now taken effect across the country. That makes for a great start to a year in which we hope to extend the reach of our campaigns to help all animals. Two ballot...

Inscribing the humane treatment of animals into our laws takes years, and so we are heartened by some key measures at the state level taking effect in 2024, which are the result of so much rallying and advocacy, and which will contribute to shaping the humane world we envision. As of Jan. 1, 2024, California’s Proposition 12, widely considered the world’s strongest law for the protection of farm animals, now enjoys full implementation.

Last week, Washington became the 12th U.S. state to pass a law to ban the sale of cosmetics newly tested on animals. This is a win for all the guinea pigs, rabbits, mice and rats who will never have to suffer through painful testing, including having cosmetics chemicals forced down their throats, dripped into their eyes or smeared onto their skin. If the animals don’t die during the experiments, they are typically killed by asphyxiation, neck-breaking or decapitation without any pain relief.

There is perhaps no one in the recent history of Congress who, during his term in office, has attempted to wreak more havoc on animals than Steve King. The Iowa Republican has supported killing horses for human consumption; opposed including pets in disaster planning; defended dogfighting and...

Gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for the coronavirus in the first known cases of its transmission to non-human primates. The animals are believed to have contracted the virus from an asymptomatic zookeeper. This is distressing news on many levels. While gorillas are not...

Wolves in northeastern Washington, under the gun because of reported conflicts with cattle ranchers, have found a powerful ally. This week, Gov. Jay Inslee weighed in on his state’s controversial killings of more than two dozen wolves in this region in recent years. In a letter Inslee asked the...

We received exciting news this weekend regarding our fight against the global trade in dog meat. At a meeting on veterinary public health held by Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture, officials confirmed their intention to support a ban on the trade in dog meat and to deny veterinary certification...

On Dec. 31, Florida's greyhound racetracks closed for good as a result of a ballot measure we helped pass with our partner groups in 2018. That win brought down what was once the stronghold of this "sport" and effectively sounded the death knell for greyhound racing in the United States. The work...