Thanks to widespread pet vaccinations, effective post-exposure treatment and the relative rarity of undetected bites by rabid animals, the number of human deaths from rabies in the United States caused has declined to an average of only one or two per year—far less than the number of human...

Updates Nov. 28: The cats have been placed with our shelter and rescue partners to find loving homes. We are happy to hear that many of the cats have been adopted and are enjoying life in their new homes! Nov. 7: After almost a month of care and veterinary treatment, the cats are ready to look for...

About our volunteers Animal rescue volunteers (ARVs) work with our Animal Rescue Team to help save animals who are victims of illegal animal cruelty and disasters. When we respond—whether to a hurricane, large-scale neglect case, dogfighting or commercial breeding operation—animal rescue volunteers...

You’d think it would be easy to persuade people to protect prairie dogs: Not only are they a keystone species, with nine other species directly dependent on them for survival, but they’re also irresistibly cute, with big eyes and big personalities. Yet the personable little rodents often find...

In a quiet corner of Black Beauty Ranch, on a stone plinth beneath a maple tree, there’s an oval etching of a man and a burro. The man is Cleveland Amory, author and founder of the Fund for Animals, and the burro is Friendly, one of the first animals to call the sanctuary home. The two met in 1980...

Wherever you are in the U.S., a coyote may be taking up residence less than a mile away. If you live in the city, you’re more likely than your rural cousins to encounter raccoons. And regardless of geography, you probably share your home with dozens of species of insects and spiders. These facts...

Around a decade ago, Black Beauty Ranch staff members found a tabby cat wandering the property. The HSUS sanctuary had hundreds of animals—including horses, pigs, bison and tigers—but a domestic cat was an odd sight. After realizing she had likely been dropped off by someone who could no longer care...

If I hadn’t been watching with my own eyes, I might not have believed it myself. But here she was, a monarch butterfly, intently probing a dead plant in the middle of a vibrant patch of flowers she all but ignored. Unaware of the scientific literature, she didn’t know that her kind wasn’t supposed...

If your dog spends a lot of time outside, tick checks should be part of your daily routine. In many areas of the United States, ticks are active year-round, even after a killing frost. Here’s how to spot a tick—and what to do if one has grabbed hold of your pet. Step 1: Scan for ticks Start by...

You just found a group of tiny newborn kittens and their mother is nowhere to be seen. Before that rescue instinct kicks in and you scoop them up, take a deep breath, step back and evaluate the situation. In most cases, removing the kittens is not the best response. Healthy kittens? Give mom time...

Leaving pets locked in cars is never safe. But when the weather gets warmer, it can be deadly. High temperatures can cause irreparable organ damage and even death. Protecting animals from an unnecessary death is a problem we can all agree to prevent. How to help a dog or cat left in a hot car Take...

The anticipation of a storm can give many pets and their owners anxiety. We don't always know why some dogs are afraid of thunder, and these types of fears may develop even if your dog has had no traumatic experiences associated with the sound. The good news is that many fear-related problems can be...

What is declawing? Declawing is the amputation of the last bone of each toe on a cat’s paw. It would be like cutting off your finger at the last knuckle. The standard method of declawing is amputating with a scalpel or guillotine clipper. The wounds are closed with stitches or surgical glue, and the...

The choice to spay or neuter your pet may be one of the most important decisions you make impacting their long-term health—and your wallet! Your pet's health and longevity The average lifespan of spayed and neutered cats and dogs is demonstrably longer than the lifespan of those not. A University of...

The house next door sits vacant, placed on the market after the last renter moved out. A succession of owners has knocked down walls, replaced carpeting and installed standard-issue appliances. Edging the exterior are shrubs from conventional landscaping palettes, including invasive species that...

DENVER, CO—Colorado Parks and Wildlife released its draft Wolf Restoration and Management Plan to the public today. While it holds some promise, conservationists say that it falls short in its statutory mandate to base decisions on the “best scientific data available.”. In July, conservationists...

MEEKER, Colo.—A wildlife expert who examined photos of dead cows obtained by the Humane Society of the United States in an open records request has concluded that wolves are not to blame for the deaths of 41 cattle whose bodies were found near Meeker, Colorado in 2022. The examination of the photos...

Sometimes my most significant revelations are the annoying, kick-me-in-the-pants ones that follow a period of contented denial. One of those seismic shifts in thought came last year at a dinner party, when a man nearly half my age honed in on a flaw in logic I’d subconsciously buried. A plant...