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At the end of a macabre “contest” in Mendon, Illinois, a young boy carries the lifeless bodies of coyotes streaked with blood and torn apart by bullets. He walks across blood-soaked pavement, struggling under the weight of the animals as he helps to load the bodies onto trucks, while other children

Our latest investigation into a New York State wildlife killing contest gives Americans another grisly glimpse into a world of shocking animal cruelty: one where coyotes, including heavily pregnant females, were lured to their death using bait and digital calling devices, their bodies mutilated and

It is a bloody scene at the Texas weigh-in of the “De Leon Pharmacy and Sporting Goods’ Varmint Hunt #1” on a cold January morning this year. Participants in this wildlife killing contest are unloading the bodies of bobcats, grey foxes, coyotes and raccoons from their trucks, which are expensively

Our latest undercover investigation of wildlife killing contests in Maryland reveals a grisly world: one where contestants use digital technology to lure animals like foxes and coyotes to their death, riddle them with bullets in a mad rush to kill the most and heaviest animals, and then dump the

In the past few weeks, I’ve detailed our recent undercover investigations into gruesome wildlife killing contests in Illinois and Nevada. Nothing about these investigations is easy to see or hear. But I want to explain why we are so committed to exposing these events to the public and to lawmakers

Some fights to protect animals turn out to be uphill battles that last for years, requiring a steadfast determination, resilience and consistency in advocacy, argumentation and campaigning. This has proven to be the case with banning wildlife killing contests in some parts of the country. Thankfully

For years we have been working to prevent the wanton slaughter of animals in wildlife killing contests . The c oyote, an animal who has been wrongly considered a pest in popular culture, is most often the central target of such events. We are trying to change that. Here, Katie Stennes, program

Earlier this month, our Nevada state director Rebecca Goff and others testified at the Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing in support of a bill in Nevada (A.B. 102) that would end cruel, unsporting and ecologically destructive wildlife killing contests in the Silver State. An end to these

Arizona’s Game and Fish Commission has voted to ban wildlife killing contests: gruesome spectacles in which participants vie for cash and prizes for killing the most or heaviest animals within a specific time period. This is a wonderful development because Arizona has been the site for an appalling

Arizona today banned all wildlife killing contests for coyotes, bobcats, foxes and other animals, joining a growing number of states taking action to stop these gruesome events in which participants vie for cash and prizes for killing the most or heaviest animals within a specific time period. The

Maryland legislators have just passed a bill banning wildlife killing contests—cruel events where participants compete to win cash and prizes for killing the most or the heaviest animals. The vote comes just over a year after we did an undercover investigation of such contests in the state that

Massachusetts has just banned cruel wildlife killing contests, becoming the fifth state, after Vermont, California, New Mexico and Arizona, to take a firm stance against these gruesome events in which participants compete to win cash and prizes for killing the most or heaviest animals. The

Washington has just outlawed wildlife killing contests—the seventh state to do so in the past six years. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 7-2 this morning to pass a rule ending these gruesome spectacles where participants kill large numbers of wild animals simply for the thrill and

Illinois is among the worst states when it comes to wildlife killing contests, with roughly 30 of these bloody events taking place each year that result in the cumulative deaths of thousands of coyotes, raccoons, foxes, squirrels and other animals. Following our 2023 investigation into a wildlife

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

The U.S. National Park Service has finalized a rule that bans using bait such as piles of donuts, dog food and meat scraps to attract and subsequently kill brown and black bears on Alaska’s national preserves. But the rule failed to finalize bans on some of the most cruel and inhumane methods of

So much of our work to give imperiled animals the protections they deserve is a long game, and we’ve been going to the proverbial bat to preserve the hippopotamus for years. Just recently, we, along with one of our allies, sent notice of our intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for

With Halloween upon us, the residents of wildlife sanctuaries and animal rehabilitation centers associated with the Humane Society of the United States and our affiliates are busy trick or treating. They are snacking on peanut butter and nuts stuffed inside pine cones, bringing down pinatas filled

Giraffes, with their iconic long necks and unmistakable, beautifully patterned coats, are facing extinction. There are currently fewer than 69,000 mature individuals remaining in the wild today. And the threats of habitat loss and illegal hunting for bushmeat are only exacerbated by demand for

American wolves are once again under urgent attack. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is readying a proposal to strip Endangered Species Act protections from wolves across the entire continental United States, which would arrest the recovery of these animals and banish them forever to isolated