On Sunday night, the first episode of the HBO docuseries, Chimp Crazy, aired. Just as we did with Tiger King, we are looking to see how this documentary addresses a largely hidden mistreatment of animals. Of course, we are hopeful that, as with any media emphasis on the plights of animals, this is the beginning of a new momentum in our society to treat nonhuman primates with greater dignity and respect than they currently receive.
On World Chimpanzee Day, let’s celebrate progress and seek a better future for our ‘closest cousins’
When Dr. Jane Goodall went to Africa to study wild chimpanzees exactly 58 years ago today, she embarked on a career that forever changed the way the world views chimpanzees. Over time, learning of the threats to chimpanzees in both captivity and the wild, Dr. Goodall became a devoted advocate for...
It is a sad reality that human beings always seem to be inventing new ways to exploit, mistreat and profit from animals, but people can also help correct such harms and point the way to a better and more humane world. One of the most positive actions we can take is to educate ourselves and others...
Every day, I share on this blog news about the progress we are making for animals. I am grateful to the thousands of readers who like, share, comment on the posts, support us with your donations and take action to make the world a better place for animals. Today, I want to share with you the blogs...
The killing of Cecil the lion five years this week ago by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe triggered worldwide outrage. Father of a pride, lured with an elephant carcass, wounded by an arrow, he suffered for hours before being killed by gunshot. As it turned out, this was a shot heard around...
The canned hunting industry is often associated with countries like South Africa, where wealthy trophy hunters can pick out and shoot captive-bred lions in enclosures for a hefty price tag. It is, literally, the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel, and it is a practice so shameful, many hunting...
In 2023, in the states, we helped to pass 153 good measures and prevented the passage of 66 bad ones. We’re on a similar course this year, and the first half of 2024 has seen a nice string of public policy successes at the state level. We’ve helped to pass bills on animals in cosmetics testing, cruelty statute upgrades, fur farming, outdoor dogs, spay/neuter funding, captive wildlife and veterinary licensure for out-of-state practitioners. And just yesterday, with Gov. Phil Scott’s signature, Vermont became the eighth state to prohibit the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores.
Imagine our world and its wildlife without the protections of the Endangered Species Act. Had it not been for this bedrock federal law, the beloved American bald eagle would most likely have gone the way of the dodo or the passenger pigeon. Gray wolves and grizzly bears would be no more than relics...
Wolf restoration programs exist to bring the species back to habitats where they were wiped out. But a wolf family established by wolves previously captured in Oregon and reintroduced in Colorado has now been removed from the wild. This week, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife department announced that its specialists had captured the Copper Creek wolf pack, the state’s first gray wolf family established by reintroduced wolves. The capture was part of a plan to relocate them after ranchers complained that the wolves were targeting farm animals.
Every now and then an individual animal’s story captures worldwide attention and brings the pains and paradoxes of our relationship to other species into stark relief. We saw this with Cecil, Harambe and Lolita—animals who became famous because of their tragic fates. We saw it last month with a wild wolf captured, tormented, and killed by a man in Wyoming. Each of these stories shines a spotlight on not only the animals and their plights but on who we are and how we should aspire to be. And most recently, a dog named Cricket, who was killed two decades ago, has become the subject of another such story.
When it comes to the private ownership of captive tigers in the United States, you just can’t make this stuff up. Through the years, we’ve seen reports of tigers kept in apartments, tigers in garages, tigers in gas stations, tigers in tattoo parlors, tigers in junkyards and more. The other day, in...
The original “Tiger King” Netflix series was a pandemic phenomenon with a train-wreck fascination for millions of viewers and a whole cast of unsavory characters. But the sideshow weirdness of the personalities involved kept many viewers from focusing on the big cat industry’s epidemic of cruelty. ...
In 2019, the Humane Society of the United States and our affiliates delivered many victories for wildlife, here in the United States and globally. We made great strides in protecting giraffes, native carnivores like bobcats and cougars, and marine mammals, including whales and dolphins in captivity...
One of the ways we make a difference for animals is by working on the state and local levels to secure the passage of laws that prevent cruel and inhumane practices that threaten animals—from puppies born in massive puppy mills to coyotes and foxes at risk of coming into the scope of a trophy hunter...
More than thirty baby elephants, torn from their mothers in the wild in Zimbabwe almost a year ago, embarked on a new journey of captivity and suffering this week when they were flown to China, where they are expected to spend the rest of their lives in zoos or circuses. Humane Society International...