The Emergency Animal Relief Fund is a continuing, dedicated fund that enables the Humane Society of the United States to help animals impacted by disasters or otherwise in need of urgent rescue. The fund, previously called the Emergency Animal Rescue Fund, supports our rescue and relief efforts for...

Contents Plan for your pets Make a disaster kit for pets If you evacuate, take your pet If you stay home, do it safely Pets and wildfires After the emergency Additional resources for equines, livestock and community cats

Contents Plan for your equines Evacuating without your equines Equines and floodwater Equines and barn fires

Although community cats are resourceful and instinctively seek out safe places in times of danger, extreme weather may pose a threat to them. If you take care of a colony of cats, there are many things you can do to increase their chances of coming through the storm safe and sound. What to do right...

Plan for your livestock Write down a list of emergency telephone numbers, including those of your employees, neighbors, veterinarian, state veterinarian, poison control, local animal shelter, animal care and control, county extension service, local agricultural schools, trailering resources and...

In September 2022, our responders assisted with rescue calls and community outreach in the wake of devastating flooding and destruction in Charlotte County, Florida, after Hurricane Ian.

Nineteen strangers huddled together, smiling for a group photo. Many had only met that day. But they’d come together for one mission: to rescue over 700 wild animals from a Puerto Rican zoo—closed to the public since hurricanes battered the island in 2017—and a government-run detention center used...

The summer months can be uncomfortable—even dangerous—for pets and people. It's difficult enough simply to cope with rising temperatures, let alone thick humidity, but things really get tough in areas that are hit with the double blow of intense heat and storm-caused power outages, sometimes with...

Writing our annual year-end review is no easy task. We sift through mountains of data, read through reports and try to choose just a few victories that capture the incredible breadth of work we do here at the Humane Society family of organizations. This year, we’re trying something different: We...

The Humane Society of the United States was founded in 1954 to complement the work of local organizations by tackling the root causes of cruelty and suffering. We are dedicated to the principles of rescue, reform and results to bring about a truly humane society. Charity ratings The Humane Society...

You’d think it would be easy to persuade people to protect prairie dogs: Not only are they a keystone species, with nine other species directly dependent on them for survival, but they’re also irresistibly cute, with big eyes and big personalities. Yet the personable little rodents often find...

Steps you can take to stop animal abuse

As Hurricane Michael barrels into Florida, having turned overnight into a category 4 storm, our Animal Rescue Team has been reaching out to shelter partners and allies, as well as emergency management officials, to encourage them to move unowned shelter animals out of harm’s way and secure pet...

The COVID relief package Congress just passed includes a number of provisions that will improve surveillance and inspection of trades where animals often endure acute suffering and that also tend to be hotbeds for disease spread. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is primarily designed to provide...

The appropriations bill and accompanying coronavirus relief/stimulus package for fiscal year 2021 now advancing through Congress will bring critical and much-needed support to millions of Americans. We are also pleased to report that the package, which funds federal agencies, includes a number of...

Each year, trained responders from the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International enter disaster zones to rescue and rehabilitate affected animals. Over the years, our teams have responded swiftly and effectively to situations ranging from hurricanes to earthquakes to...

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...