The Humane Society of the United States is working with an Ohio-based law firm to provide legal assistance to three Ohio families in lawsuits alleging Petland, Inc. engaged in fraudulent and misleading sales practices and sold the families sick puppies. The Humane Society of the United States tracks...

We zigzag from tree to tree, seeking refuge under the leaf umbrellas. Drizzle turns to deluge as we dash beneath a tall canopy to plot our escape. The sky booms. My dad takes my hand, and I look up to see if he shares my sense of foreboding. But he’s smiling at me, his eyes twinkling. He says...

Hummingbirds are top contenders for many avian superlatives: Bee hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world, as diminutive as their insect namesake. In proportion to their body sizes, rufous hummingbirds make one of the longest migrations and Anna’s hummingbirds fly faster than space shuttles...

The annual To the Rescue! gala supporting the work of the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International, which took place on Nov. 3, 2023, at Cipriani 42nd Street, raised $2.2 million to benefit the organizations’ work to protect animals. Actress, author, producer and rabbit...

In May, we published our 10 th annual Horrible Hundred report, a list of problem puppy mills in the United States. The source of many puppies sold online or in pet stores, puppy mills are large commercial dog-breeding operations that put profits ahead of animal welfare. Sick or injured dogs, unsafe...

Update 3/27/19: Dow AgroSciences ( Corteva Agriscience ) has officially agreed to release the beagles to our shelter partner, Michigan Humane Society. We are so grateful to each and every one of you who spoke up and took action to save these dogs. As we celebrate their freedom, our work is far from...

Thin, fearful Sally greeted our Animal Rescue Team with barks, then gentle sniffs. A mom of three puppies so tiny they hadn’t yet opened their eyes, Sally was housed outdoors in a plastic shelter with no apparent food or water. She stayed nose to nose with her days-old puppies as our rescuers lifted...

You’d think it would be easy to persuade people to protect prairie dogs: Not only are they a keystone species, with nine other species directly dependent on them for survival, but they’re also irresistibly cute, with big eyes and big personalities. Yet the personable little rodents often find...

Leading a summer camp class about beavers, Tabby Fique hoped for a glimpse of her favorite furry hydrologists. But another wildlife sighting offered an even better teachable moment. “We were looking at the pool created by the beavers, and a muskrat swam by!” recalls Fique, the land manager for the...

The suspect creeping up near my front fence was a tough character—broad-leafed and thick-stemmed and threatening to invade my property and swallow it whole if I didn’t act fast. There was no hesitation that summer morning as I headed to work: Off with his head! It was a decision made all too easy by...

Wherever you are in the U.S., a coyote may be taking up residence less than a mile away. If you live in the city, you’re more likely than your rural cousins to encounter raccoons. And regardless of geography, you probably share your home with dozens of species of insects and spiders. These facts...

As monarch butterflies and hummingbirds headed south this fall, I dreamt of following my favorite snowbirds to Mexico and Central America. But I stayed home instead, where I have a window onto the spectacular world of winter wildlife: northern flickers tossing maple leaves with their beaks in search...

The house next door sits vacant, placed on the market after the last renter moved out. A succession of owners has knocked down walls, replaced carpeting and installed standard-issue appliances. Edging the exterior are shrubs from conventional landscaping palettes, including invasive species that...

Sometimes my most significant revelations are the annoying, kick-me-in-the-pants ones that follow a period of contented denial. One of those seismic shifts in thought came last year at a dinner party, when a man nearly half my age honed in on a flaw in logic I’d subconsciously buried. A plant...