Just over five years ago, our teams rescued Douala along with more than 200 other wild animals from the St. Edouard Zoo, an unaccredited zoo in Quebec, Canada, which had a history of warnings and charges from the local government. This time, the operator of the zoo had been charged with two counts of criminal cruelty and neglect following an investigation by the Montreal SPCA, leading to the seizure of these animals and the closure of the zoo.

A bill that would prohibit public contact with big cats like tigers, lions and leopards and ban keeping these animals as pets has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. The Big Cat Public Safety Act, S. 1210, would end the suffering of animals like Elsa, a tiger cub kept as a “pet” and found outdoors...

Our Animal Rescue Team is on the ground in Kansas right now, assisting the Kingman County Sheriff’s Office with the rescue of approximately 30 dogs, two cats, a horse and two burros from an alleged cruelty situation. The sheriff’s office sought our assistance after concerns surfaced about the...

If you’ve been online at all in the past week, chances are you’ve seen the footage of an alarmed off-duty police officer pointing a gun at an approaching tiger in a sleepy residential neighborhood in Houston. The tiger’s name is India and, after a mysterious disappearance and a week of dramatic plot...

California has once again topped our 2018 Humane State rankings list, after overwhelmingly passing the strongest farm animal protection law in the world, and by enacting a law that bans the sale of cosmetics tested on animals -- the first U.S. state to do so. Oregon, which has some of the strongest...

Cary Smith already cares for six dogs at home, but when she heard a plea from the Homeward Trails Animal Rescue in Fairfax, Virginia, as the coronavirus crisis broke, she knew she just had to step up. “They sent out a plea for fosters to take in dogs from their adoption center to make room for more...

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...

The images coming out of Kentucky after historic flooding recently devastated the eastern part of the state are simply heartbreaking: Entire homes lie in shambles, streets and bridges are still impassible and tall trees have been snapped like twigs from the force of the water. Our Kentucky state...

Summer can be a fabulous time of the year to experience new adventures and expand one’s horizons, but it can also be high season for people becoming carried away with getting close to wild animals. This two-part series explains why it’s so important to keep the good of the animals in mind when...

The dog days of summer, where temperatures climb and people head outdoors, have nearly arrived. It is especially important to keep animals in mind during this active season—not just the companions in our homes but also the wild animals we may encounter while hiking in a national park or visiting a...

In recent years, new research has changed traditional advice around how to help cats found outside. Some of the cats may have homes and know how to reach them. Some may be “community cats” cared for by several local families, and their home is exactly where they are. These cats, especially when they...

As Tropical Storm Barry barrels toward Louisiana, threatening to dump several feet of water on parts of the state, we are helping transport animals who are up for adoption at shelters in the area to safety with our rescue partners. Barry promises to be particularly destructive – evoking fearful...

The coronavirus pandemic has affected animal shelters in unprecedented ways. But the humane movement has risen to the challenge, and shelters have pivoted swiftly and efficiently to ensure animals are neither forgotten nor left out, by expanding foster programs and creating innovative adoption...

For many years, the modest stretch of forested land surrounding our office in Maryland has offered a refuge to wild animals whose habitat is shrinking around them. Year after year, our staff members excitedly share sightings of our wild neighbors: the mama fox who births kits in a den under our...

With a presence in more than 50 countries, Humane Society International has the reach and the ability to create lasting and transformational change for animals around the globe. In 2019, among several achievements, our team helped win key victories for giraffes, elephants and rhinos at the meeting...

Update 12/20/22: President Biden signed the Big Cat Public Safety Act into law. In a major advance in our long fight against the abuse of captive big cats, the U.S. Senate just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263/ S. 1210), a bill we have championed for years because it prohibits keeping...

We have good news to share from Mississippi and Iowa, the only two states in the nation without a law on the books that would make acts of animal torture, like burning, drowning and intentional starvation, an automatic felony. Recently, Mississippi’s state legislature passed a bill that would do...

An estimated 30 to 40 million cats live outdoors in the continental United States at any given time. These are bright and intelligent creatures who are no different from your house cat, and the Humane Society of the United States has long advocated for their protection. However, outdoor cats pose a...

The freeze in Texas this month turned up a surprise for authorities in Bexar County as they scrambled to get people and pets out of harm’s way: a tiger cub wearing a harness and living as a “pet” outdoors. A neighbor had reported what sounded like a crying tiger. When they came upon Elsa --- as the...

In the Santiago Sur Criminal Detention Center, one of Chile’s oldest prisons, hundreds of cats live alongside 4,482 inmates. It’s relatively common in prisons throughout Chile that felines roam the halls. Originally introduced into penitentiaries to control rodent populations, cats have come to play...