Wolves across most of the continental United States must have Endangered Species Act protections restored, a federal judge ruled yesterday, effectively prohibiting trophy hunting of the species across most of the country. This tremendous victory is the result of a lawsuit filed by the Humane Society...

There is perhaps no one in the recent history of Congress who, during his term in office, has attempted to wreak more havoc on animals than Steve King. The Iowa Republican has supported killing horses for human consumption; opposed including pets in disaster planning; defended dogfighting and...

Wolves in northeastern Washington, under the gun because of reported conflicts with cattle ranchers, have found a powerful ally. This week, Gov. Jay Inslee weighed in on his state’s controversial killings of more than two dozen wolves in this region in recent years. In a letter Inslee asked the...

On Dec. 31, Florida's greyhound racetracks closed for good as a result of a ballot measure we helped pass with our partner groups in 2018. That win brought down what was once the stronghold of this "sport" and effectively sounded the death knell for greyhound racing in the United States. The work...

It has been six years since the death of Cecil, a male lion who was a popular individual for wildlife viewing tourists visiting Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. The heartbreaking details of the hunt that killed Cecil made international headlines: Cecil was lured out of the protected area with...

We recently celebrated progress toward protecting wolves, bears, coyotes, cougars, foxes, bobcats and other native carnivores living on the vast U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service advanced a rule that would protect them from lethal and flawed “predator control” programs. Until the rule is finalized, however, their lives still hang in the balance, waiting for a decision that could mean the difference between life and death. Such is the power that public policy has over the lives of animals. And it’s just one decision that we’re urging the Biden administration to make before election season stalls critical activity to finalize protections for so many species.

Last week, reports surfaced that a man in Wyoming allegedly ran down a wolf with a snowmobile. He then reportedly taped the injured wolf’s mouth shut, paraded the helpless and terrified animal around at a local bar and posed for a photo with the injured wolf before going outside and killing the animal. According to news reports, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department cited the man only for possession of a live wild animal and levied a paltry $250 fine before washing its hands of the matter.

Ahead of a looming U.S. government shutdown, congressional leaders have unveiled the first of two packages of bills to keep federal government funded through September 30 (the end of fiscal year 2024). This first package of funding and directives for several agencies contains many key items with positive implications for animals.

Gray wolves used to thrive in most states in the U.S. and across Europe. Because of trophy hunting and habitat loss, wolves were extirpated from most states in the U.S. until the 1970s, when gray wolves were listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, giving them federal...

Summer can be a fabulous time of the year to explore the natural world, but it can also be high season for people becoming carried away with getting close to wild animals. In part one of this series, we covered why being a humane traveler for animals entails not supporting attractions that offer...

The dog days of summer, where temperatures climb and people head outdoors, have nearly arrived. It is especially important to keep animals in mind during this active season—not just the companions in our homes but also the wild animals we may encounter while hiking in a national park or visiting a...

Our mission is to build a more humane world for animals, and over the past few weeks, I have been reflecting on our progress toward this vision by recounting 2023’s wins for animals of all kinds: wildlife, dogs, cats and other companion animals, animals used in labs, and animals farmed for food and for fur.

Every year that passes sees hundreds of thousands of wild animals in the U.S. and around the world killed by trophy hunters, whose main motivation is to display whole animals or their body parts for bragging rights. Given all the threats facing wild animals, including habitat loss, environmental...

Given the highly polarized atmosphere in Washington, DC, these days, our crucial bipartisan wins for animals in 2019 give great cause for celebration. Thanks to the support and engagement of countless Americans, we hit our marks this year. We succeeded in getting one of our highest priorities, a...

When the United States stripped federal protections for wolves last week, giving state managers in the lower 48 states the ability to greenlight trophy hunting and trapping seasons on these animals, we promised to fight this draconian move with every tool at our disposal. This week, we, along with...

In October last year, the Trump administration stripped federal protections for wolves, giving state managers in the lower 48 states the ability to greenlight trophy hunting and trapping seasons on these animals. Today, we and our allies sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over this illegal and...

In June, the federal government finalized a rule to appease trophy hunters by allowing some of the cruelest of killing methods on 20 million acres of Alaska’s national preserves. Today, the Humane Society of the United States, along with a coalition of conservation and animal protection...

The recent viral video of a Utah runner’s encounter with a mountain lion on a trail has set off a new round of debate about the challenges of human-wildlife coexistence. Unfortunately, as this story broke, some media outlets were quick to sensationalize the incident, falsely claiming that the animal...

Any time an animal is gunned down by a trophy hunter, ecosystems are disrupted, and families are torn apart—yet such killings happen all the time, across the country and throughout the world. So, it’s a particularly sad predicament that those of us who seek to protect wild animals from trophy...

UPDATE (5/7/21): Despite overwhelming opposition from Idaho residents, professional wildlife biologists and managers and state fish and game commissioners, Gov. Brad Little signed S. 1211 into law on May 5. We urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to uphold its obligations to review and relist...