WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263, Senate companion bill S. 1210) by unanimous consent. This follows the bill’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 29. The legislation prohibits keeping tigers, lions and other big cat species as pets, and...

The first time Tim Harrison rescued privately owned big cats was back in 1982. A public safety officer at the time, Harrison and other responders found a male lion pacing around a small enclosure, a lion cub who appeared severely ill, bears, snakes and other animals on an Ohio property. It was rare...

WASHINGTON— In a long-awaited victory for sharks across the globe, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act passed the U.S. Senate Thursday night by a vote of 83-11 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7776). This critical measure prohibits the commercial trade of shark fins and...

Danielle Tepper had always loved dolphins. When she went on vacation to Hawai'i, she knew she had to see them firsthand. Tepper—now a senior editor at the Humane Society of the United States—wanted to do it ethically, so she avoided captive dolphin attractions. Instead, she booked an excursion to...

In 1988, after a decade that saw record sales of animal fur, a representative from the Humane Society of the United States met in Europe with other advocates to plan an end to an industry built on cruelty. Only a year before, the first ladies of the U.S. and what was then the USSR had famously...

WARNING: This page contains graphic content. Editor's note: In late August, as mink on fur farms in the Netherlands continued to fall sick with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans, the Dutch government announced that it would require all mink fur farms to close by March of 2021...

MURCHISON, Texas—Five years ago, Humane Society International rescued over 200 wild exotic animals from decrepit, barren and disturbing conditions at St. Edouard Zoo, an unaccredited facility in Canada. The animals were taken to sanctuaries and qualified facilities throughout North America...

Animals with fur suffer immensely in the name of "fashion." Fortunately, more and more brands, designers and retailers are going fur-free. The companies listed below have announced that they don't sell animal fur or are phasing in a fur-free policy. (Please note that leather and shearling are not...

SALEM, Ore.—Wildlife-advocacy and animal-protection groups sent an urgent letter today calling on Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and state officials to address mink fur farms’ escalating threats to public health and wildlife. The groups are asking the governor to fast-track phasing out commercial mink fur...

Fur factory farms and trappers kill millions of animals each year using brutal methods just for their fur. With your help, the Humane Society of the United States is fighting back—and winning—with brands, cities and countries moving away from fur. But to make progress, we need you. There are five...

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana’s law prohibiting direct public contact with big cats and bears goes into effect on July 1. Implementation of this law brings much needed protection for some of the animals who have been subjected to public handling and forced to live in abysmal facilities in the state...

Flying back and forth over Cape Cod Bay, a survey plane spotted a half dozen of the world’s rarest creatures: North Atlantic right whales. Such sightings are good news. The species hovers near extinction—by one estimate, fewer than 360 remain. Each time researchers locate a whale, they take pictures...

The public display industry keeps many species of marine mammals captive in concrete tanks, especially whales and dolphins. The Humane Society of the United States believes that these animals are best seen in their natural coastal and ocean environments instead of being held captive simply to...

NEW YORK—The Humane Society of the United States released the findings of a recent undercover investigation at Sloth Encounters in Hauppauge, New York, owned by Larry Wallach. The investigator captured disturbing footage of staff hitting sloths, stressed sloths kept in crowded conditions, sloths...

Waconia, MINNESOTA—On Aug. 10, the Humane Society of the United States attended the Carver County Fair Tiger Encounter exhibit to witness firsthand how the animals were being treated in a show that claims to raise awareness about the plight of tigers in the wild and their rapid rate to extinction...

Humans are fascinated by the intelligent and gregarious nature of the dolphin. As one consequence of this fascination, dolphins are commercially exploited in marine parks, aquaria and "swim-with-the-dolphins" (SWTD) attractions worldwide. In the United States, the Department of Commerce's National...

On a longline fishing boat off the Galapagos Islands, a concerned biologist working undercover as a cook films a horrifying scene. As the camera rolls, a blue shark is dragged upside down out of the water, a sharp hook piercing it through the roof of the mouth and out through the side of the face...

Undercover video footage from a recent visit by the Humane Society of the United States at Bill Meadows’ Tiger Safari in Tuttle, Oklahoma, led to a U.S. Department of Agriculture citation for causing animals trauma and stress. The inspection report was made public last week. In March 2021 an HSUS...

Roadside zoo staff encouraged visitors to remove masks during animal encounters, despite COVID-19 risk to otters The HSUS went undercover at the same facility in 2014 and documented abuse of tiger cubs used for public handling Undercover footage taken at Tiger Safari in Tuttle, Okla. shows a...