Trainers who paint horses’ legs with harsh acids and chemicals that burn through the skin, causing unspeakable pain to the animals, then add heavy shoes and tie chains on top of those wounds to intensify their suffering. Trainers who hit horses with sticks and shove electric prods in their faces to...
A coalition including the Humane Society of the United States today sued the Trump administration for allowing chicken slaughterhouses to dial up the breakneck speeds at which they kill birds. The increase, announced in 2018, allows slaughterhouses that receive a waiver from the administration to...
Our work to tackle the puppy mill scourge is multifaceted and includes a range of tactics. We appeal to consumers to adopt animals from rescue groups and animal shelters, or to adopt from responsible breeders. We persuade pet stores to discontinue their reliance on puppy mills as a source of animals...
For more than a decade, our Animal Protection Litigation team, a talented group of attorneys who use the law to advance the cause of animal protection, has been one of our most effective divisions. Each year, they file lawsuits and legal petitions to support our advocacy campaigns, draft numerous...
The year 2019 saw many pioneering and major wins in our work to end the cruelty of fur, both here in the United States and across the globe. For the first time ever, lawmakers in a U.S. state voted to ban all fur sales and manufacturing. The largest clothing retailer in the United States went fur...
The year 2019 was one of extraordinary gains for animals trapped in the cruel business of fur, for companion animals who are the victims of malicious cruelty, for wild animals at risk of extinction because of trophy hunting and the wildlife products trade, and for farm animals forced to spend their...
In 2019, we made big strides for companion animals in puppy mills, dog meat trade, research and more
Each year, our campaigns work on a multitude of issues related to improving the lives of companion animals, including dogs, cats and horses. In 2019, we made incredible gains on this front, culminating with the signing of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act into law in November. The...
Despite the pandemic, our fight against puppy mills continued full throttle in 2020. We won several important legal and legislative battles against these commercial enterprises that keep large numbers of dogs in sordid conditions, and we continued to raise awareness about problem mills through our...
One of my fondest memories from this year was celebrating the monumental progress we made toward ending the fur trade at our To the Rescue! gala in New York. The event showcased the next generation of sustainable, animal-friendly materials—like leather made from mushrooms and fur made from plants...
Wild animals face a chilling multitude of threats. At a time when so many are vulnerable to the unprecedented impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and ongoing human encroachment on shrinking habitats, imperiled animals continue to be killed for nothing more than a trophy, a prize, a pelt or a trinket. Others suffer at the hands of traffickers and breeders who want to lock them in cages for entertainment.
It was clear something awful had been happening at a residence near Fort Wayne, Indiana, just by looking at the ground. As our team assisted law enforcement in a search of the area on Nov. 3, they saw carcasses and body parts of dead animals throughout the property. And in a dilapidated barn, they...
An Indiana woman, who shared images and videos on social media that showed her torturing and graphically killing cats and dogs by hanging and skinning them, has been charged under the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, a groundbreaking federal law we helped pass last year. If found guilty...
Every year, more than a million mink are killed—typically by gassing to avoid damage to their pelts—at U.S. fur farms for no purpose other than to provide trim on coats and poms on hats, purses or gloves. Few, if any, laws regulate the living conditions and slaughter of farmed mink, either in the U...
A Manhattan Supreme Court judge has imposed a remarkable $3.9 million in fines on the now-closed Chelsea Kennel Club and its former owner, found liable for pushing sick puppies upon an unsuspecting public, and ordered them to set up a restitution fund for the consumers the pet store betrayed. This...
As the runways are being set up for Fashion Weeks this February and March in New York, London, Milan and Paris, we, along with our fellow members of the global coalition the Fur Free Alliance, are launching the biggest anti-fur campaign of all time, urging millions of fur-free supporters across dozens of countries to ask Max Mara to join modern competitors like Armani, Gucci, Valentino and Dolce&Gabbana in going fur-free.
Our latest investigation reveals shocking and deceptive tactics used by a corporate-run Petland store to sell a sick puppy to a shopper working on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States, and to keep customers in the dark about other disease outbreaks among animals for sale at the store...