WASHINGTON—Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled against the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation in their challenge to Proposition 12, the strongest farm animal protection law in the world. The Humane Society of the United States led...

In 2019, Sara Shields, in southern India for workshops with Humane Society International colleagues, drove into the countryside near Bangalore to visit industrial chicken operations. At the first farm she stopped at, she saw hundreds of white-feathered birds in long open-sided barns with burlap...
Factory farm animals, locked in extreme confinement, suffer some of the worst cruelty imaginable. Egg-laying hens are confined in cages so small they can’t even flap their wings. Mother pigs in the pork industry are locked in metal “gestation crates,” which prohibit them from turning around for...
The Humane Society of the United States today released the results of an undercover investigation documenting shocking animal abuse at a Vermont slaughter plant. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture took decisive action today based on the information provided by...
The shocking number of animal cruelty cases reported every day is just the tip of the iceberg—most cases are never reported. Unlike violent crimes against people, cases of animal abuse are not compiled by state or federal agencies, making it difficult to calculate just how common they are. However...
Contents How many animals are used in experiments each year? Which animals are used in experiments? What kinds of experiments are animals used in? What kinds of institutions use animals in experiments? Where do laboratories get the animals they use in experiments? What is life like for animals in...
Time and again, undercover investigations and whistleblowers have documented rampant animal cruelty and other abuses in our nation’s factory farms and slaughterhouses. But instead of working to solve those problems, Big Ag is trying to simply cover them up. Whistleblowing employees have long played...

Around 2014, Kristie Middleton walked through a cafeteria at the University of California, hoping to see students chowing down on some of the healthy plant-based options she was encouraging food service providers to adopt. Middleton, then with the Humane Society of the United States, figured that...
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa has ruled against the Iowa Pork Producers Association and several industrial pork producers in their challenge to California’s Proposition 12, a ballot measure passed in 2018 with roughly two-thirds of the vote. The Humane Society of...
Why livestock owners need to be prepared Disaster preparedness is important for all animals, but it is especially important for livestock because of the size of the animals and their shelter and transportation needs. Disasters can happen anywhere and take many different forms—from hurricanes to barn...

Some farmers provide their animals with room to root, roam and roost, but the majority of eggs, meat and dairy products sold in the United States come from factory farms, where animals are kept tightly confined in spaces barely larger than their bodies. They are never allowed to express their...

We are alive at a pivotal moment: For ourselves, for the Earth and for every animal on the planet. If we all are to survive, we must change the way we eat. Which sounds dire. But it is within our grasp. Think of it as a chance for a better world. A great and shared adventure. A journey to a place...