For years, we have been fighting the dog meat trade alongside local activists who seek to eradicate this cruelty from their countries. In China, the infamous Yulin dog meat “festival, which takes place annually in June, has gained international attention. Ahead of this year’s festival, our Chinese...
Imagine our world and its wildlife without the protections of the Endangered Species Act. Had it not been for this bedrock federal law, the beloved American bald eagle would most likely have gone the way of the dodo or the passenger pigeon. Gray wolves and grizzly bears would be no more than relics...
We just filed a legal petition urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to immediately restore Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The wolves in this region are in grave danger due to new laws passed in Idaho and Montana, and the Humane Society of the...
After being shuttered for six years because of flagging ticket sales and financial troubles, a new kind of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will kick off a nationwide circus tour this month, this time without a single animal caged, held captive and forced to perform for public entertainment...
The killing last week of Takaya, the lone wolf of Canada’s Discovery Island whose story of survival and resilience captivated people around the globe, is a grim reminder of the uphill battle wolves face in the modern world. This was a legendary young wolf, with a grit and instinct for survival that...
A bad reputation can mean the difference between life and death for animals, and nowhere is this clearer than for sharks. Sharks may be depicted as terrifying animals in films like “Jaws,” but the true tale of horror is how humans have treated shark species for centuries across the world. This year...
Fur production in the U.S. is plummeting, and that’s good news for animals. Every five years, as part of the U.S. Census, the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases data on mink farms in the country. The newly released numbers show that in 2017, 236 mink fur farms existed in the U.S. Five years later, only 110 mink fur farms remained. With the speed of this decline, we believe even more mink farms have closed in the last year.
Update 10/1/2021: The PAST Act has now been reintroduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 5441) with 213 cosponsors. We hope that this is finally the beginning of the end of the extremely cruel practice of horse soring. The myriad forms of animal cruelty make for a large and grim inventory, but...
The pursuit and promotion of humane business models for pet stores carries so much promise in our work, and we’re gaining ground in our campaign to halt the sale of puppy mill puppies in retail settings. To date, 300 local governments—cities, towns and counties—of all sizes and demographics across...
By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson As President Donald Trump prepares to deliver his State of the Union address today, it’s a good time to take stock of how his administration has dealt with animal protection issues of interest to us at the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society...
Every now and then an individual animal’s story captures worldwide attention and brings the pains and paradoxes of our relationship to other species into stark relief. We saw this with Cecil, Harambe and Lolita—animals who became famous because of their tragic fates. We saw it last month with a wild wolf captured, tormented, and killed by a man in Wyoming. Each of these stories shines a spotlight on not only the animals and their plights but on who we are and how we should aspire to be. And most recently, a dog named Cricket, who was killed two decades ago, has become the subject of another such story.
Update 3/25/22: Earlier this week, the Court denied Safari Club International’s motion to dismiss our case. Now that trophy hunters' attempt to derail our lawsuit has been shut down, the judge will allow us to proceed to the merits. The number of leopards in sub-Saharan Africa has plummeted by 30%...