Just as a historic freeze sent temperatures plummeting in Texas in February, overwhelming the state’s power grid, breaking pipes and leaving roads slick with ice, a strange call came into the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office near San Antonio. Someone said they heard an animal crying outside their...

In 2019, Sara Shields, in southern India for workshops with Humane Society International colleagues, drove into the countryside near Bangalore to visit industrial chicken operations. At the first farm she stopped at, she saw hundreds of white-feathered birds in long open-sided barns with burlap...

PHILADELPHIA— Aramark, the largest U.S.-based foodservice provider, announced today that by 2025, 44% of its residential dining menu offerings at more than 250 colleges and universities will be plant-based. Aramark and the Humane Society of the United States have collaborated on plant-based...

BOSTON—Today the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development heard testimony on bills prohibiting the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes and bears in traveling exhibits and shows (H.3245 and S.2197/S.2189). This critical, bipartisan legislation serves to...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263) by a vote of 278 to 134. The bill would prohibit keeping tigers, lions and other big cat species as pets, and ban direct public contact like cub petting. Sponsored and championed by Rep. Michael Quigley...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263, Senate companion bill S. 1210) by unanimous consent. This follows the bill’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 29. The legislation prohibits keeping tigers, lions and other big cat species as pets, and...

The first time Tim Harrison rescued privately owned big cats was back in 1982. A public safety officer at the time, Harrison and other responders found a male lion pacing around a small enclosure, a lion cub who appeared severely ill, bears, snakes and other animals on an Ohio property. It was rare...

See the difference between cage-free egg production and battery-cage egg production.

Danielle Tepper had always loved dolphins. When she went on vacation to Hawai'i, she knew she had to see them firsthand. Tepper—now a senior editor at the Humane Society of the United States—wanted to do it ethically, so she avoided captive dolphin attractions. Instead, she booked an excursion to...

Scientists have just begun to scratch the surface when it comes to understanding bird brains. But studies have shown what backyard chicken caregivers already know: The world’s most most intensively farmed animal has remarkable cognitive abilities.

MURCHISON, Texas—Five years ago, Humane Society International rescued over 200 wild exotic animals from decrepit, barren and disturbing conditions at St. Edouard Zoo, an unaccredited facility in Canada. The animals were taken to sanctuaries and qualified facilities throughout North America...

Fresh Ideas Food Service Management, a company that focuses on creating an exceptional fresh food dining experience, based in Columbia, Missouri, has received an “A” on the Humane Society of the United States’ Protein Sustainability Scorecard. The goal of the scorecard is to establish what the...

The overwhelming majority of meat, eggs and dairy sold in the United States come from industrial factory farms where animals are housed in ruthlessly small spaces and subjected to other cruel treatment. Packaging for animal products frequently contains phrases or images meant to signify higher...

Herlan Manurung became a chef for the stories. During his childhood in Sumatra, Indonesia, food was the center of his family’s social life: Once a month his extended family gathered together, with everyone bringing a dish to share. There were few set recipes and lots of innovation. An uncle might...

Maggie the pig was abandoned on an island in a river, then rescued after a flood. First, she nearly starved. Then, she nearly drowned. When Maggie arrived at Black Beauty Ranch in March 2023 at age 2, caregivers hoped to give her a life that would make up for all the suffering. But the pig, bred to...

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana’s law prohibiting direct public contact with big cats and bears goes into effect on July 1. Implementation of this law brings much needed protection for some of the animals who have been subjected to public handling and forced to live in abysmal facilities in the state...

ISS Guckenheimer, a leading food services provider that seeks to deliver chef-crafted fresh food to its customers, has pledged to make 55% of its menu options plant-based by 2025. This is the strongest commitment to date from any food service management company. As a signatory to the Cool Food...

The Humane Society of the United States has just published its annual report evaluating food service companies on their environment and animal welfare commitments. The HSUS Protein Sustainability Scorecard assesses which companies are actually keeping their sustainability promises and which are...

Kent State University, in collaboration with the Forward Food program at the Humane Society of the United States, has set a goal to serve 30% plant-based meals in both its residential and retail operations by 2026. This increased commitment follows the university surpassing its initial goal to...