We have just secured another monumental win for hens confined in tiny cages in the egg industry. Moments ago, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed legislation championed by the HSUS to require all eggs produced or sold in her state to come from cage-free facilities. With Oregon’s new law, the entire...
The Farm Bill, a legislative package the U.S. Congress approves every five years or so to govern agricultural and food programs, has the potential to instill animal welfare and sustainability into food practices for years to come. Instead, the 2024 Farm Bill just approved in the House Agriculture Committee would undo so much progress made for animal welfare, threaten public health and create a nightmare for countless animals.
When they learned there was a way out of raising puppies for sale and slaughter, two business owners in Viet Nam seized the opportunity. Because they contacted our team in Viet Nam to help them transition their businesses to kinder livelihoods, they will no longer be complicit in the trade that kills 5 million dogs and 1 million cats each year for meat in Viet Nam.
For decades, the welfare of most chickens raised and slaughtered for meat has been deeply concerning: These “broiler chickens” have been selectively bred for rapid weight gain and muscle mass to such an extreme that they are inherently prone to painful, debilitating leg problems and have difficulty...
Tomorrow, citizens in California and Florida will vote on critical animal protection measures with profound and lasting implications for humane work. In California, a virtual army of Humane Society of the United States staff members and volunteers are making the case for a ballot measure that would...
Each year, millions of homeless pets enter U.S. shelters and approximately two million dogs and cats are euthanized. This is a huge improvement since the 1970s when it was closer to 15 million, but it’s still too many. That’s why ending pet homelessness is a key goal for the Humane Society of the...
Fashion seasons and runway shows without animal fur. Organ-on-a-chip technologies for testing cosmetics and other products. A transition to cage-free and crate-free systems that can change the lives of countless chickens and pigs in vast food supply networks. Plant-based meals in major restaurant...
Throughout 2018, Humane Society International has driven transformational changes for animals around the globe. Vietnam adopted animal welfare language for the first time in its history; Unilever supported a global ban on animal testing for cosmetics; the Indonesian government supported a ban on the...
We now know for certain that the Farm Bill to be considered by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee contains language that seeks to undo more than a dozen state laws on humane treatment of farm animals including California’s Proposition 12, widely considered the nation’s strongest law on farm animal welfare. The groundbreaking ballot initiative was voted into law by a wide margin, with more than 7.5 million voters supporting it, and was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court after the pork industry lobby filed legal challenges.
We recently celebrated progress toward protecting wolves, bears, coyotes, cougars, foxes, bobcats and other native carnivores living on the vast U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service advanced a rule that would protect them from lethal and flawed “predator control” programs. Until the rule is finalized, however, their lives still hang in the balance, waiting for a decision that could mean the difference between life and death. Such is the power that public policy has over the lives of animals. And it’s just one decision that we’re urging the Biden administration to make before election season stalls critical activity to finalize protections for so many species.
Note: This blog is part of a series highlighting how we fight—and win—for animals. For this post, I join with Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, to tell the story about how we tackle institutionalized animal suffering by changing laws and government regulations. “Why...
The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, is the nation’s only organization for veterinary professionals that focuses solely on animal welfare. The HSVMA contributes to the work we do every day, by bringing the important veterinary...
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...