Update 10/1/2021: The PAST Act has now been reintroduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 5441) with 213 cosponsors. We hope that this is finally the beginning of the end of the extremely cruel practice of horse soring. The myriad forms of animal cruelty make for a large and grim inventory, but...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson As President Donald Trump prepares to deliver his State of the Union address today, it’s a good time to take stock of how his administration has dealt with animal protection issues of interest to us at the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society...

Update 6/23/22: The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection voted today to advance two important horse protection bills, the SAFE and PAST Act. The Subcommittee voted in favor 22-0 for both bills and we look forward to further advancement to the Full Committee. This week...

Last Saturday, Americans tuned in to watch the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown. On the same day, the New York Times exposed horrific details of our country’s wild horses ending up at slaughter plants in other nations; Americans who had obtained these...

Update 6/16/23: The Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act has been introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 2037) by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. The U.S. still exports tens of thousands of horses to slaughter. It’s well past time we permanently ban domestic horse slaughter...

Every year, our Humane Awards recognize elected officials who help animals through public policy efforts in the U.S. Congress. As sponsors of positive legislation, and as champions of strong regulatory reforms, these legislators are in the vanguard of the fight for creating more protections for...

2023 could have been a watershed year for the welfare of racehorses in the U.S. with the historic implementation of national racetrack safety and anti-doping programs the anti-doping section of the new law was late in implementation due to continued pushback by a few laggards using the courts to...

It was November 2022 when, at the request of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, our Animal Rescue Team arrived at a property in Ohio that seemed abandoned. Inside two ramshackle barns, filled with cobwebs and feet of filth and manure, there were animals struggling to survive. The horse who would later be named Magnolia had a ruptured eye that had scarred over and was pacing anxiously in her pen as rescuers surveyed the conditions of all the horses.

The fight for public policy gains for animals at the federal level is not for the faint of heart nor the weak of spirit. Every day, in every congressional session, it’s an all-out battle to secure humane laws and regulations. Whatever we achieve, we achieve against determined opposition, including...

The federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, has devastated many American families. But it has also affected countless numbers of animals, including thousands of domestic and wild animals in puppy mills, research laboratories, zoos and other facilities that are licensed -- and...

When it comes to the private ownership of captive tigers in the United States, you just can’t make this stuff up. Through the years, we’ve seen reports of tigers kept in apartments, tigers in garages, tigers in gas stations, tigers in tattoo parlors, tigers in junkyards and more. The other day, in...

The coronavirus pandemic is not the only problem plaguing the horse racing industry as it prepares for the first of the Triple Crown races at Belmont Stakes this Saturday with altered schedules, shorter race times and a TV-only audience. This past year has placed the sport—and its key players—under...

A federal agency yesterday started removing nearly 1,000 wild horses from the Devil’s Garden territory in California’s Modoc National Forest. Animals more than 10 years old who are not adopted could be sold to “kill buyers” for a dollar and then end up in a slaughterhouse in Canada or Mexico. All of...

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...

President Trump has just signed into law the omnibus appropriations package with major victories for animals, including horses and burros, companion animals, marine mammals and animals in zoos and research facilities. The package, comprised of two bills (H.R. 1865 and H.R. 1158) funding all federal...

Recently, in a shocking move, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its plans to continue to conceal crucial animal welfare records from public view, including inspection reports and enforcement records of puppy mills, roadside zoos and horse shows where Tennessee walking horses and related...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to permanently conceal crucial animal welfare records, including inspection reports and enforcement records of puppy mills and horse shows where Tennessee walking horses and other related breeds are vulnerable to the heinous practice of soring. Last month...

In early 2017, with a new administration in office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture deleted its online public database containing thousands of pages of records that the public and animal protection groups depended on to monitor Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act violations. These were...

A federal court judge last night threw out a challenge to San Francisco’s ban on the sale of fur, in a historic victory against this unnecessary and immensely cruel commodity. The city’s ban, which passed in 2018, took effect earlier this year and it led the way for many wins against fur, including...

In 2019, the Humane Society of the United States and our affiliates delivered many victories for wildlife, here in the United States and globally. We made great strides in protecting giraffes, native carnivores like bobcats and cougars, and marine mammals, including whales and dolphins in captivity...