So many of us were saddened this week to learn about the death of Beulah the elephant, who spent most of her 54 years in captivity and chains, working for a Connecticut-based traveling petting zoo. Beulah was just six years old when she was sold to the R. W. Commerford & Sons Traveling Petting Zoo...

Our campaign to stop puppy mill cruelty just reached an important milestone with the passage of the 400th local ordinance prohibiting the sale of puppy mill puppies in pet stores. And this is something to celebrate, as it shows so many people coming together to make the world a more humane place for...

Some of the findings of our latest Horrible Hundred report sound like scenes from horror films. A puppy mill operator in Iowa performed do-it-yourself surgeries on puppies. A breeder in Ohio is suspected of using rusty scissors to cut the tails off puppies. A breeding facility in Oklahoma was so infested with mice that some dogs could not eat their food without ingesting rodent feces. That breeder was associated with the American Kennel Club, a purebred dog registry organization that used to call itself “the dog’s champion.”

It is with immense joy that I report that South Korea’s National Assembly has just passed legislation to ban the dog meat industry. In November, the South Korea government publicly announced that it would support a ban; this historic vote was the final hurdle to make such a ban official.

Millions of renters in the U.S. have pets, but pet restrictions is a primary barrier for many in securing housing. We are sponsoring a bill, AB 2216, with Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, that would create better to access rental housing in California by prohibiting blanket pet bans and requiring landlords to have reasonable justification for not allowing a pet in a rental unit. The bill would also prohibit landlords from charging additional pet rent and fees, one more way in which it supports more pet inclusive options for tenants.

Each year, millions of homeless pets enter U.S. shelters and approximately two million dogs and cats are euthanized. This is a huge improvement since the 1970s when it was closer to 15 million, but it’s still too many. That’s why ending pet homelessness is a key goal for the Humane Society of the...

There is unprecedented focus on the challenges of animal welfare in China in the wake of COVID -19. The sharpening international scrutiny of its wildlife markets and wildlife trade will shake up animal protection policy in China and around the world. The news that a new classification scheme issued...

On December 11, we released the results of our shocking undercover investigation at two Petland locations, one in Las Vegas and another in Kennesaw, Georgia, where our investigators found several sick puppies and a dead puppy in a freezer. When we started the investigation, we were familiar with the...

Update: We are delighted to report that the U.S. House passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263, by a strong bipartisan vote of 278 to 134. Thank you for helping us achieve this win by advocating for the bill to your Representative. Now it’s the U.S. Senate’s turn to act. Please help us keep...

In yet another twist in the continuing saga of Joe Exotic, a court has awarded his roadside zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, to the leader of a big cat sanctuary whom he once hired a hitman to kill. A federal judge on Monday gave the GW Exotics zoo—the site where Joe Exotic abused and exploited big cats...

Earlier this week, law enforcement officers from the Umatilla County Sheriff’s office in Oregon were called to a home because a pet chimpanzee attacked a woman who subsequently locked herself in a bedroom. The woman’s mother instructed deputies to shoot and kill the chimpanzee so that emergency...

In the aftermath of devastating wildfires that claimed the lives of a still unknown number of people on Maui, we mourn with our supporters and colleagues in Hawaii. As with most disasters, the loss of human life and the financial and other damages incurred by individuals, governments, businesses and...

With the passing of legendary actress, singer and animal advocate Doris Day, the world has lost a generous and kind soul. Even as we mourn the loss of a woman whose grace, talent and versatility left so many of us charmed, I want to celebrate the amazing life that Doris led as an animal advocate...

There are some 10,000 puppy mills active in the United States – a mammoth number, by any measure. Animals in these enterprises are condemned to a life of squalor and suffering with no relief in sight. At a typical puppy mill, dozens or even hundreds of animals are housed in stacked wire cages or...

The Lion King is breaking box office records worldwide, with $1.335 billion in cumulative global box office receipts, including $472.8 million in the United States, as of last weekend. More importantly, it’s delighting audiences everywhere, which is hardly surprising, given the deep appeal that...

Cary Smith already cares for six dogs at home, but when she heard a plea from the Homeward Trails Animal Rescue in Fairfax, Virginia, as the coronavirus crisis broke, she knew she just had to step up. “They sent out a plea for fosters to take in dogs from their adoption center to make room for more...

Throughout 2018, Humane Society International has driven transformational changes for animals around the globe. Vietnam adopted animal welfare language for the first time in its history; Unilever supported a global ban on animal testing for cosmetics; the Indonesian government supported a ban on the...

In January, our Humane Society International/India team learned about eight puppies who were stuck in tar in the town of Tirur in the south Indian state of Kerala. The puppies, as you can see in the video below, were completely covered in the sticky black stuff that was fast hardening up around...

Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for all of the wonderful people -- family members and friends -- who share our lives, and also for the animals who are so important to us. At the Humane Society of the United States, where we have a dogs-in-the workplace policy, the companion animals of friends...

In a landmark decision this week, Hawaii has moved to ban dangerous wild animals, including tigers, lions, bears, primates, elephants and crocodiles, from being brought into the state to perform in circuses, carnivals and other public exhibitions. This regulation, approved by the Hawaii Board of...