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U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors documented 60 percent fewer violations at facilities that use animals in 2018 compared to 2017. The drop, reported by the Washington Post this week and also documented by our researchers here at the Humane Society of the United States, is the latest sign

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson North Atlantic right whales, once decimated by whalers, have continued to face an onslaught of other threats to their survival in recent decades, including entanglement in commercial fishing gear, collision with large ships and climate change. These gentle giants

As Alabama recovers from a blitz of devastating tornadoes, the Humane Society of the United States is on the ground in Lee and Barbour Counties. Staff responders are coordinating efforts to empty local shelters of unowned, adoptable animals so that these agencies and organizations can respond to

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson In recent years, major professional sports have taken crucial steps to rid themselves of illegal doping in order to create a more level playing field and to protect athletes from the adverse effects of performance-enhancing drugs. But there has been no such respite

The Humane Society of the United States steps in swiftly when called upon to help animals in the aftermath of major disasters, natural and man-made. But even in a situation in which we’re working to help transport and rescue hundreds of animals, we never lose sight of the individual, as a recent

The sexual abuse of animals, and the associated production and distribution of related pornography, is a persistent challenge in humane work and law enforcement. For a quarter century, we’ve been working to raise public awareness and to strengthen the legal foundation for ending this deeply

Dead rabbits piled up in a freezer and hidden under a table in a back room were among the many shocking discoveries made at a Petland store in Fairfax, Virginia, during a five-month hidden camera investigation by the Humane Society of the United States. But what our undercover investigator, who

The bizarre saga of a former Oklahoma roadside zoo owner, whose menagerie of hundreds of dangerous exotic animals was exposed in a 2011 HSUS undercover investigation, reached a dramatic conclusion yesterday when a federal jury found him guilty on charges that included killing five tigers and hiring

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson Recent developments in a case involving a Tennessee walking horse named Honors, who was crowned champion despite clear evidence that he was a victim of cruel soring, highlight the urgent need for Congress to swiftly pass the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act. The

A Petland store that was the subject of an HSUS undercover investigation released this week appears to be closing down. After news of our investigation, which showed more than a dozen rabbits had apparently died at the Virginia store without medical care, and following an HSUS tip-off, police

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act passed the Senate Commerce Committee with a near-unanimous voice vote this week, with American lawmakers leaving no doubt of how they view the nefarious global trade in which fishermen cut the fins off sharks and dump them back in

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago says it has ended a program where visitors were allowed to touch or interact with wildlife, including reptiles and small mammals. The HSUS has long opposed the use of captive wild animals in public handling situations. Our undercover investigations at venues that offer

Each year, the Humane Society of the United States recognizes lawmakers and corporations who support and adopt humane principles in their work. This week, I was on Capitol Hill with colleagues from the Humane Society Legislative Fund to honor 173 lawmakers with our Humane Awards, for their work to

Canada this week once again turned its peaceful ice floes into an open-air slaughterhouse, with the reopening of the annual commercial seal hunt. Sealers are expected to club and shoot tens of thousands of harp seal pups in coming weeks, despite the fact that more than 37 countries have banned the

Our Animal Care Expo 2019 in New Orleans has attracted a record 2800 participants from the United States and around the world, with some 226 attendees from 53 different countries in attendance. We’re so proud of what this event has become; the premier educational conference and trade show serving

Animal Care Expo 2019 in New Orleans has been a booming success, with record attendance, an increased pool of scholarship participants and an expanded menu of presentations for both domestic and international attendees, including nine daylong learning labs. The energy, the spirit and the power of

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson The Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program is broken. Since inception of the program, the BLM has removed approximately 270,000 wild horses and burros from our public lands, without any significant use of fertility control tools, and without a plan

With one month to go before public comment closes on a federal rule that would curb some of the worst practices at puppy mills, some prominent voices are making the case for why the U.S. government needs to finalize this proposal and go even further to protect dogs from problem breeders who exploit

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson In recent years, understanding our firm and absolute opposition to horse slaughter in the United States and to the cruelty and inefficiency of the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro work, frustrated members of Congress have been pressing the Humane

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson A quartet of bipartisan U.S. Representatives today introduced a bill that would strengthen baseline standards for commercial dog dealers regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Animal Welfare Act. The Puppy Protection Act was introduced by Reps