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Members of the U.S. House signaled their interest in protecting American horses by holding hearings on two important bills this week: one to stop the dangerous practice of drugging racehorses to enhance their performance on the tracks or disguise pain, and another to keep American equines from

Provisions for funding programs to protect wild horses and burros, gray wolves, animals used in research and testing, as well as elephants and lions, who are commonly the target of American trophy hunters, were among several animal welfare measures approved this week by House appropriations

Update! The U.S. Senate has just voted to approve the Farm Bill by a vote of 87 to 13. The bill did not include the dreaded King amendment that had the potential to nullify important state and local laws protecting animals, but senators approved three key measures that benefit companion animals. The

New Jersey has made history by becoming the first state in the country to ban the use of numerous wild animal species, including elephants, tigers, lions, bears and primates, in circuses and traveling shows. Governor Phil Murphy today signed into law a measure that recognizes both the animal welfare

The inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris heralds a new beginning. Most Americans are looking forward to putting the challenges of last year behind them. But many are still facing the difficulties of illness, unemployment and economic uncertainty because of the global

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson There’s a reason why the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund invest substantial time and effort in seeking to shape funding decisions within the U.S. Congress; it pays off big for animal protection. Today the U.S. House of

On Thanksgiving Day, with an estimated 20 million viewers watching, Thor the bulldog was handpicked from a crowded field of 196 breeds and crowned Best in Show at the 2019 National Dog Show. “With his adorable waddle and Winston Churchill looks, the dog won over the judges and the fans,” the

Hundreds of localities now ban the sales of dogs from puppy mills in pet stores because of how cruelly the breeders, transporters and pet stores treat the animals in their care. Our puppy mills campaign has been leading this fight and last month we released an undercover investigation into the

Update 12/20/22: President Biden signed the Big Cat Public Safety Act into law. In a major advance in our long fight against the abuse of captive big cats, the U.S. Senate just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263/ S. 1210), a bill we have championed for years because it prohibits keeping

Just days after the release of our annual Horrible Hundred report, Missouri’s attorney general has sued to shut down one of the puppy mills named in it. The owners of Little Bit Ranch in Unionville, Missouri, failed to provide adequate veterinary care for their dogs and left them with only frozen

Update 9/19/23: In a win for coyotes and other animals, on Sept. 15, 2023, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously to prohibit wildlife killing contests across the state. A coalition of 22 conservation organizations, hunters, wildlife management professionals, scientists

New Jersey is poised to allow trophy hunters to kill the state’s beloved black bears starting next month using barbaric methods like baiting the animals with piles of rotting sugary food. The plan would also allow hunters to chase bears off state lands, where bear hunting is not allowed, and onto

Disturbing as it was to learn last week that the British government is wavering on proposed bans on imports of fur and foie gras, it was heartening to see the reaction of a caring public outraged by this news and the firm resistance of politicians determined to see these animal protection laws

It’s a gruesome topic that no one really likes to talk about but last week the methods for “depopulating”—killing—hundreds of thousands of pigs and chickens during a natural or manmade disaster, such as a pandemic like COVID-19, were front and center at a meeting of the American Veterinary Medical

The euthanasia of homeless companion animals in gas chambers sounds archaic and is inhumane, but the practice is still prevalent in four states—Ohio, Missouri, Utah and Wyoming—where there are fewer than a dozen such chambers in operation. That’s still too many. Since 2013, the Humane Society of the

Today, the New York Times reported on Airbnb’s new featured offering of “animal experiences,” which will have an ethical focus and will ban any direct contact with wild animals. The announcement comes on the heels of a decision by TripAdvisor, reported just yesterday, to stop ticket sales to all

A beautiful story came out over the weekend in the Washington Post about an 11-year-old beagle named Hammy. Adopted in 2013 after living in a research laboratory for his first four years of life, Hammy became the beloved pup of journalist Melanie D.G. Kaplan. As often happens, both the human and the

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

Earlier this year, I told you about lawsuits filed in Ohio against Petland that revealed heartbreaking stories of sick puppies. Now, two new lawsuits seek to hold Petland accountable for business practices that mislead customers and prop up the cruel puppy mill industry. Attorneys with our Animal