Two of fashion’s most iconic brands, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga, have announced they no longer use animal fur in their lines. Alexander McQueen, a top British brand, and Balenciaga, a luxury Spanish brand, are the latest houses in the Kering Group, a luxury fashion group based in France, to...

This time of year is a special moment in the lives of black bears. After consuming about 20,000 calories and gaining three to five pounds every day during the late summer and early fall, black bears head to their winter dens. Because bears hibernate in their dens for three to six months (depending...

Arizona’s Game and Fish Commission has voted to ban wildlife killing contests: gruesome spectacles in which participants vie for cash and prizes for killing the most or heaviest animals within a specific time period. This is a wonderful development because Arizona has been the site for an appalling...

*Editor's note: HSUS and the Fur Free Alliance are in open dialogue with Prada, and we should have an update soon. Please stay tuned. As Fashion Week begins in New York City today, the iconic fashion brand Burberry has announced that it will stop using fur in its products and phase out existing fur...

For human beings, the end of summer can mean squeezing in a few last trips to the beach or mountains before school begins and the pace of work picks up. But for bears, the end of summer is a vital life stage; it’s when they start a feeding frenzy called “hyperphagia,” which involves seeking food and...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson A strong team of bipartisan lawmakers has reintroduced a bill to end the cruel practice of “soring” Tennessee walking horses and related breeds, a core priority for us here at the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund. The bill...

Recently, the United Nations identified some of the top drivers of zoonotic diseases, like COVID-19, that spread from animals to humans. Not surprisingly, the top three factors specified align exactly with issues the Humane Society family of organizations named in May in our own global policy plan...

Today Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation to ban wildlife killing contests in New York state. This is a wonderful moment for wildlife, as New York has been the scene of more than 20 of these senseless spectacles each year. The contests targeted a broad range of animals including coyotes, foxes, bobcats, squirrels, raccoons, crows, rabbits and woodchucks. The new law, to take effect in November 2024, will prohibit cash-for-wildlife competitions in which the objective is to slaughter animals for money and prizes.

Arizona today banned all wildlife killing contests for coyotes, bobcats, foxes and other animals, joining a growing number of states taking action to stop these gruesome events in which participants vie for cash and prizes for killing the most or heaviest animals within a specific time period. The...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson Update: The bill to ban fur sales has also passed the concurrence committee and will now head to the governor’s desk for his signature. In two historic votes for animals, California lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to ban fur sales and to stop the trophy hunting...

Four Chinese provinces will offer farmers a government buy-out or other financial help to stop breeding wild animals like civets and cobras for food. This move is part of a continuing crackdown by China and its individual provinces and cities on the nation’s rampant wildlife trade for food in the...

Mink on two fur farms in Utah have tested positive for the coronavirus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported today that “unusually large” numbers of animals had died at the two farms, which also reported positive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, in people who had contact...

The Dutch parliament has voted to permanently shut down an estimated 128 mink fur farms in the wake of coronavirus outbreaks on 17 of these farms since April. If approved by the Dutch government, the decision would bring a welcome end to the cruel business of fur farming in the country—a business...

The nation’s most authoritative voice on infectious diseases today sounded a stern warning about the dangers of the wildlife trade and its relationship to pandemic diseases like COVID-19. In an interview with Fox News, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci called for the global community to pressure China and other...

Israel yesterday announced it intends to ban the fur trade. If successful, it would be the first nation to end the buying and selling of a cruel commodity that has fallen out of favor in the fashion industry and with consumers. Israel’s ban would make only a few minor exceptions for religious...

Maryland legislators have just passed a bill banning wildlife killing contests—cruel events where participants compete to win cash and prizes for killing the most or the heaviest animals. The vote comes just over a year after we did an undercover investigation of such contests in the state that...

Mink have tested positive for the coronavirus on a fur farm in Wisconsin, the largest fur producing U.S. state. The news broke today even as media reports confirmed thousands of mink have died of the disease on fur farms in Utah, the first state to report such infections on mink farms in August. The...

Today, we are one step closer to a fur-free society now that Neiman Marcus Group, which includes retailers Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call and Horchow, has just announced it will end its use of animal fur in favor of more ethical alternatives. The luxury retailer will end its use of...

The Netherlands, the first country to report a coronavirus outbreak on its mink fur farms, will close all such farms by March next year, two and a half years ahead of a previous deadline. The decision, reported today by the Dutch national news service NOS, follows an outbreak on 41 such farms in the...

Saks Fifth Avenue, a North American retailer synonymous with luxury fashion, announced today that it will end sales of all fur products in its stores by the end of 2022. Saks follows in the footsteps of other major retailers, including Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, all of which have adopted...