It is the height of absurdity that, in 2023, animals continue to be born to be killed and skinned for a coat trim or a pom-pom on a hat. But we are heartened that with each year we see monumental progress toward our vision: a world in which not a single animal is killed just for fashion. The fight against the fur trade is at the heart of our humane movement and has been for decades. Every year that passes sees a heightened public awareness of the importance of this fight. In 2023, we’ve continued to put pressure on the industry, leading to a significant decline in fur production globally.

After more than two years of the pandemic testing our patience and resolve, forcing us to find new ways of working and socializing, and making us long for normal life, there are finally signs of spring—among them, our return to holding Animal Care Expo in person this year. We’re so excited to be...

In an era defined by scientific and technological innovation, testing drugs on dogs, rats, monkeys and other animals is not only becoming increasingly outdated but causes immense animal suffering. Despite publicly indicating a commitment to non-animal test methods, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulations and guidance documents for pharmaceutical companies are unclear and continue to emphasize the use of animals for drug testing. There is evidence that some companies believe testing on animals is legally required as part of the drug approval process.

Less than two years after Wisconsin held one of the cruelest and most disastrous trophy hunting seasons in recent memory, wolves across most of the country will enjoy a desperately needed reprieve this fall because of our successful lawsuit that restored their federal Endangered Species Act...

Yesterday, we assisted federal and state law enforcement officers as they executed nearly two dozen search and seizure warrants at multiple properties in South Carolina in what is believed to be the biggest takedown of a suspected dogfighting network in the state’s history. When the day was over...

Update 8/27/21: the Supreme Court issued an opinion yesterday ending the CDC order which extended the eviction moratorium in areas of substantial and high transmission of COVID-19 until October 3, 2021. The Humane Society family of organizations remains concerned about what this could mean for...

Our Animal Research Issues Department is headed by Kathleen Conlee who has devoted the past two decades of her life to this work. But before she became an avid animal protection advocate she worked at a breeding facility that supplied primates for research. Recently we released a video of Katie...

Twenty years ago, in the days after September 11, 2001, heroic first responders did the unthinkable task of going into the wreckage to search for signs of life. By their sides were the search and rescue dogs who, over the last two decades, have garnered so much love and admiration for their role in...

Last week, a Pentagon official was arrested and charged with animal fighting in the wake of a federal investigation that revealed his 20-year career in dogfighting. This arrest highlights what we have seen time and again, that dogfighting involves people from all stations of life, here in the U.S...

A soldier seeking to bring home a dog they’d befriended while serving abroad. The diplomatic or military family leaving for or returning home at the conclusion of an overseas assignment. The traveler who fell in love with a dog in an animal shelter or rescue station in another country. The animal organization seeking to transport dogs from lives of uncertainty, distress or peril to the welcoming hearts and hearths of new and loving families. Starting August 1 this year, these are just some of the people and animals who could be adversely affected by a new federal rule on the importation of dogs from other countries to the U.S.

Disturbing as it was to learn last week that the British government is wavering on proposed bans on imports of fur and foie gras, it was heartening to see the reaction of a caring public outraged by this news and the firm resistance of politicians determined to see these animal protection laws...

Last week, Ohioans showed up at the polls to defend a core tenet of democracy that is vitally important to the animal protection movement: the ballot measure. On Issue 1—the proposal to raise the threshold for amending the Constitution of the State of Ohio from 50% to a 60% supermajority—the no vote...

COVID-19 has made the past year and a half challenging, difficult and painful for so many individuals and institutions across the world. The animal sheltering and rescue community is no exception. Last summer, as the pandemic worsened across the U.S., shelters responded by growing programs to keep...

It is a sad truth that the cute puppies frolicking in the windows of pet shops so often come from the most dismal facilities: Puppy mills, where their mothers and fathers are treated as little more than moneymaking machines, getting bred over and over to produce litter after litter. But there is...

It’s a gruesome topic that no one really likes to talk about but last week the methods for “depopulating”—killing—hundreds of thousands of pigs and chickens during a natural or manmade disaster, such as a pandemic like COVID-19, were front and center at a meeting of the American Veterinary Medical...

Recent heatwaves across the U.S. and Canada have proven to be deadly for people and animals. And just a few weeks before these fatal heatwaves, the Westminster Dog Show declared Wasabi, a Pekingese, winner of its “best in show” award at its 145 th annual competition in New York. While there was...

Making the world a more humane place for animals is fundamentally a matter of changing hearts and minds. No progress for animals would be possible without shifting perception. Where once a person wearing a fur coat conveyed a sense of wealth and status, it is now an image of callous indifference in the face of incredible animal cruelty. But progress isn’t a straight shot: Every now and then a fad seems to take us a step backward.

Dogs and cats in Illinois laboratories will be saved from painful and outdated toxicity testing thanks to a first-of-its-kind law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday. Under the new law, it won’t be permissible to use dogs and cats in Illinois laboratories in toxicity testing—tests that attempt to...

It’s no secret that puppy and kitten mills treat dog and cat mothers and fathers like moneymaking machines, bred over and over with little to no regard for their health or well-being. It is simply no way for a dog or cat to live. The suffering of these animal families is what drives us in our work...

State legislatures are again in session, and we’re busy in our push for the passage of animal protection laws across the country. In 2022, some 1,300 animal-related bills were introduced in the states, and dozens of valuable measures on both the state and federal levels passed. Highlights in the...