The U.S. House today approved many key animal protection reforms, including measures designed to rein in horse soring, combat wildlife trafficking and help enforce animal cruelty laws, as part of Congress's annual appropriations process. Members also prohibited the use of federal funds for...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson In a major victory for our campaign to protect wild horses and burros, the United States this week reinstated important safeguards that will prevent unscrupulous kill buyers from purchasing large numbers of these iconic American animals and funneling them to...

Update 7/1/2021: The INVEST in America Act (H.R. 3684) has passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 221 to 201. We urge the U.S. Senate to include the House amendments in their version of the bill and pass it swiftly in order to make these historic wins for animals law. Horses and...

Over the weekend, the 86th annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration concluded in Shelbyville, Tennessee, and we are determined that this be the last Celebration with abused walking horses on display. A rule finalized earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and slated to take full effect in February 2025 gives us reason to hope our decades of work to end this practice will come to fruition. However, there are last-ditch efforts to block this essential rule through lawsuits and political pressure, which is why we must continue to press the issue. Members of the Humane Society of the United States’ Equine Protection team traveled to Tennessee to evaluate the condition of the horses at the show, and here, Keith Dane, senior director of Equine Protection, gives an account of what they saw.

For years, the government, through the Bureau of Land Management, has attempted to control wild horse and burro numbers by rounding the animals up and offering them for adoption. It was during one such roundup in the year 2000 that a flashy sorrel and white yearling was picked up in southern Oregon...

Americans are taking a stand against one of the gravest assaults on animal welfare, unfolding right now in the U.S. Congress, where a radical faction of the pork industry is pushing to include the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R. 4417/S. 2019) in the Farm Bill. We’re not going...

Today, in a crucial victory for animals, President Trump signed into law the Farm Bill minus the anti-animal King amendment but with three pro-animal measures. This is an outcome the Humane Society Legislative Fund had long worked for, along with our Humane Society of the United States legal and...

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...

As mom to an animal-loving daughter, it warms my heart to see stories of children who are working to make the world a better place for animals. We have all seen these on social media or maybe in our own homes and neighborhoods – children who ask for donations to animal shelters instead of birthday...

There is perhaps no one in the recent history of Congress who, during his term in office, has attempted to wreak more havoc on animals than Steve King. The Iowa Republican has supported killing horses for human consumption; opposed including pets in disaster planning; defended dogfighting and...

Update 11/15/21: President Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure package into law. The infrastructure bill included $350 million dollars for wildlife crossings, which is a huge victory for wildlife and people! This critical funding will go towards creating wildlife bridges across busy...

Congress has begun its annual process of funding federal departments, agencies and programs, and last night two House subcommittees voted to include several crucial provisions benefiting animals in their FY2021 appropriations bills. The Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee bill presented by...

Ahead of a looming U.S. government shutdown, congressional leaders have unveiled the first of two packages of bills to keep federal government funded through September 30 (the end of fiscal year 2024). This first package of funding and directives for several agencies contains many key items with positive implications for animals.

Given the highly polarized atmosphere in Washington, DC, these days, our crucial bipartisan wins for animals in 2019 give great cause for celebration. Thanks to the support and engagement of countless Americans, we hit our marks this year. We succeeded in getting one of our highest priorities, a...

Right now, as they do every year, our opponents are mobilizing in state legislatures around the country to halt the march forward for animal protection. Even as we have worked with countless stakeholders to win passage of hundreds of bills and local ordinances year after year, our opponents have dug...

Our Animal Protection Litigation team plays a critical role at the Humane Society of the United States, filing lawsuits and legal petitions to support our major campaigns, drafting language for state and federal animal protection bills and ballot measures, and defending animal protection laws once...

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...

The inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris heralds a new beginning. Most Americans are looking forward to putting the challenges of last year behind them. But many are still facing the difficulties of illness, unemployment and economic uncertainty because of the global...

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson There’s a reason why the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund invest substantial time and effort in seeking to shape funding decisions within the U.S. Congress; it pays off big for animal protection. Today the U.S. House of...

Hundreds of localities now ban the sales of dogs from puppy mills in pet stores because of how cruelly the breeders, transporters and pet stores treat the animals in their care. Our puppy mills campaign has been leading this fight and last month we released an undercover investigation into the...