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.
Tennessee has a huge puppy mill problem and no law to fight these operations that mistreat the dogs they profit off. Just over the past year we have heard of several puppy mill rescues, including two—one in Grundy County last month and another in Madison County last June—where hundreds of dogs were...
The American Kennel Club turns 140 years old this week. Its tagline is “For the love of all things dog.” Nothing could be more misleading. Although it tries to pass itself off in the U.S. Congress and elsewhere as an authority on animal welfare, the organization is a breed registry for purebred dogs, one that has actively come to resist progress for animal welfare. Over the last few decades, the AKC has become little more than a front for the puppy mill industry, one that serves the interests of large-scale mass breeders while charging them for the AKC’s certifications of pedigree and litter registrations. Despite its widespread name recognition as an animal organization, the AKC is not in the business of protecting dogs, as some elected officials and members of the public seem to believe. It’s in the business of protecting and supporting the interests of dog breeders and their profits.
We’re devoted to ending the worst forms of systemic animal suffering by working with corporations—and while we’ve had some immense wins, some companies refuse to listen to calls for change. A fascinating discussion on our corporate policy work took place on our Humane Voices podcast, which came out...
The pursuit and promotion of humane business models for pet stores carries so much promise in our work, and we’re gaining ground in our campaign to halt the sale of puppy mill puppies in retail settings. To date, 300 local governments—cities, towns and counties—of all sizes and demographics across...
It truly gave me a lift to watch the Weather Channel’s two-part feature on our animal rescue work ( here and here). I’m immensely proud of my Animal Rescue Team colleagues. I am also grateful to them, and I admire them for their courage, compassion and calm in the face of emergencies that upend the...
In recent years, we’ve made incredible progress for dogs in puppy mills by raising broad awareness of their plight and by advocating for the passage of local ordinances and state laws that prohibit the sale of puppies in pet shops. Fighting this progress are those who benefit from selling dogs in...
Breeding dogs at puppy mills rarely get to retire. Most of the mother dogs are considered spent at just 6 years old because they can no longer reliably produce litters. They’re only halfway through their lives, and if given a chance, they could live into their teens, but too often, the end of their...
At the Humane Society of the United States, we take on the toughest fights for all animals, and we do our best to live up to an early mission statement of our founders: Every field of humane work – everywhere. From working with state and federal lawmakers to ensure maximum protections for animals...
It was November 2022 when, at the request of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, our Animal Rescue Team arrived at a property in Ohio that seemed abandoned. Inside two ramshackle barns, filled with cobwebs and feet of filth and manure, there were animals struggling to survive. The horse who would later be named Magnolia had a ruptured eye that had scarred over and was pacing anxiously in her pen as rescuers surveyed the conditions of all the horses.
For some years now, we have been keeping a close eye on three Chicago pet stores that have been finding their way around a city ordinance that prohibits the sales of commercially raised dogs and cats in pet stores to fight the problem of puppy mills. Instead of following the law and doing the right...
Recently, in a shocking move, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its plans to continue to conceal crucial animal welfare records from public view, including inspection reports and enforcement records of puppy mills, roadside zoos and horse shows where Tennessee walking horses and related...
We always say that we cannot rescue our way out of the largest, toughest issues facing animals. That’s why we also work to change the system so that puppy and kitten mills are eradicated. As we were finishing writing this blog, a win came in from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which upheld Maryland’s statewide prohibition on the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores. The Humane Society of the United States filed an amicus brief in the case, supporting the state’s argument that the law is constitutional and its goals (stopping puppy mills, protecting consumers and reducing the burden on shelters) are legitimate. This decision is a major blow to the puppy mill industry.
It’s no secret that puppy and kitten mills treat dog and cat mothers and fathers like moneymaking machines, bred over and over with little to no regard for their health or well-being. It is simply no way for a dog or cat to live. The suffering of these animal families is what drives us in our work...