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Mink have tested positive for the coronavirus on a fur farm in Wisconsin, the largest fur producing U.S. state. The news broke today even as media reports confirmed thousands of mink have died of the disease on fur farms in Utah, the first state to report such infections on mink farms in August. The

The Humane Society of the United States has helped pass laws to end the sale of puppies in pet stores in three states and more than 365 U.S. cities, counties and towns. But our work doesn’t end there. We also work to help ensure these laws are neither ignored nor evaded. Recently we focused on a pet

Recently, we recognized Barilla, the world’s largest pasta maker, and TOKS, one of Mexico’s most popular fast casual restaurants, with the Henry Spira Corporate Progress Awards. These companies both made the decision to source their eggs exclusively from cage-free suppliers, and then embraced that

December 23, 2020 UPDATE: Since this blog was posted, the North American Meat Institute petitioned the Ninth Circuit to try to get its case reheard en banc (by a full panel of the Court). Today, the Ninth Circuit unanimously rejected the Institute’s request to rehear its tired claims. In doing so

Our National Marine Fisheries Service, slow to take action, really shouldn’t need a prompt about the fierce urgency of now when it comes to protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Still, a new reminder has come with the tragic sighting last week of a four-year old male badly

A Manhattan Supreme Court judge has imposed a remarkable $3.9 million in fines on the now-closed Chelsea Kennel Club and its former owner, found liable for pushing sick puppies upon an unsuspecting public, and ordered them to set up a restitution fund for the consumers the pet store betrayed. This

The trade in live wild animals and their body parts threatens the survival of so many wildlife species, and it poses serious global security and public health risks. In a one-two punch targeting this international crisis, members of Congress have introduced bills that would bolster our nation's

With a historic law we helped pass that bans greyhound racing in Florida about to take effect at the beginning of 2021, the last three remaining racetracks in the state have announced the dates for their final races in December. It would not be a stretch to say that once the dogs cross the finish

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

In a sweeping victory, San Antonio, Texas, voted last night to prohibit the sale of commercially raised puppies and kittens in pet stores. The city is home to one Petland and three other puppy-selling stores, and it has been a focal point in our work to end the sales of puppy mill dogs. San Antonio

An overwhelming majority of Kentucky voters oppose horse soring—the intentional infliction of pain on the hooves and legs of Tennessee walking horses and related breeds—and want Congress to end it, according to the results of a new poll we are releasing today. Seventy-eight percent of poll

A backyard breeder of primates who has been on our radar for years was in the news this week for an incident that defies all common sense. Michael Poggi, who runs his operation from his home in Florida, charged a man $150 in August for a “full contact experience” with an adult leopard in his

At the now defunct Newseum in Washington, D.C., one of the most popular exhibits used to be a photographic display on presidents and their dogs. It was impossible to get in edgeways through the crowds milling around it, and almost everyone had smiles on their faces as they read about the companion

Reports from Denmark this week are making it clearer than ever that mink fur farming is a public health minefield and an animal welfare nightmare. The European nation announced that it would slaughter all 15 million mink on its 1,000 fur farms following concerns that a mutation in the virus that has

The reinstatement of the 2016 federal rule to address the abhorrent and widely scorned practice of horse soring in the Tennessee walking horse industry should be an easy decision for the incoming administration. The rule, which the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society

The United States is one of the world’s largest destinations for illegal wildlife products. Each year, traffickers smuggle in millions of dollars’ worth of items from poached animals, including shark fins, pangolin scales, ivory trinkets, animal trophies, and live animals like monkeys, parrots and

The world’s largest fur auction house says it will close its doors for good within the next three years, in yet another dramatic setback for this cruel trade that contributes to unnecessary suffering and death for millions of animals worldwide each year. Kopenhagen Fur, founded in 1930, acts as a

An HSUS undercover investigator has recorded video footage of animals living in dismal conditions at puppy mills in the Midwest that have never or only rarely been cited for neglecting the animals in their care by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal agency whose job is to ensure these

A federal court has ruled that a jury was right in holding Smithfield responsible for creating a nuisance for a community in the vicinity of a pig growing facility in North Carolina. Neighbors of the Smithfield-affiliated facility, which held 15,000 pigs, had alleged that the company essentially

In the midst of a booming coronavirus surge across the United States, a related crisis is brewing on the nation’s mink fur farms where outbreaks have failed to be treated with the same level of concern and seriousness we have seen from other countries. A recent striking example of this inaction can