In recent months, China has made rapid progress toward quashing its infamous wildlife and dog meat trades. Last week, we got more good news on this front: China officially confirmed that dogs are pets and are not livestock for eating; and Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus is believed to have...

There is unprecedented focus on the challenges of animal welfare in China in the wake of COVID -19. The sharpening international scrutiny of its wildlife markets and wildlife trade will shake up animal protection policy in China and around the world. The news that a new classification scheme issued...

In 2016, China made a historic decision to ban the trade in ivory and other elephant body parts, claiming a spot on the frontlines of the global war to end the trafficking of threatened species. But China is still the world’s second largest importer ( after the United States) of hunting trophies...

Update: We are delighted to report that the U.S. House passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263, by a strong bipartisan vote of 278 to 134. Thank you for helping us achieve this win by advocating for the bill to your Representative. Now it’s the U.S. Senate’s turn to act. Please help us keep...

Walking alongside a lion in South Africa or feeding a baby tiger with a milk bottle at a roadside zoo stateside as you smile into the camera might seem like a novel idea, but it never has a good outcome for the animal. And increasingly, American travelers are beginning to realize this, according to...

The year 2020 has seen phenomenal progress in our work to end the use of fur. Nations moved to announce an end to fur production and/or sales, citing the “immoral” nature of this trade that results in the suffering and death of millions of animals each year for nothing more than a coat or trim on a...

Despite ecological devastation, habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, poaching and all the other threats that undermine the ability of wild animals to survive in their natural habitats, Europe’s largest hunting fair opened this week in Dortmund, Germany . Considering the imminent danger these...

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...

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...

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...

Our mission is to build a more humane world, and over the past few weeks, I have been reflecting on our progress toward this vision by recounting 2023’s wins for animals of all kinds: wildlife, dogs, cats and other companion animals, animals used in labs, and animals farmed for food and for fur.

One of the urgencies that defines our mission in this era is the rapidly increasing threat to wild animals all over the world. Under the overwhelming pressures of biodiversity loss, shrinking habitats and climate change, untold numbers of wild animals also face the cruelty of the illegal wildlife trade, trophy hunting, predator control and businesses that want to lock them in cages, pools, circus rings or petting zoos for entertainment. Others simply find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, sparking human-wildlife conflict and its too-often fatal “solutions.” Where the threats are many, dexterity is essential. We are proud that our work to end cruelties that afflict wildlife involves a multitude of strategies designed to ensure their protection. Here are just some of the pro-wildlife practices and policies we pursued in 2024.

Every year that passes sees hundreds of thousands of wild animals in the U.S. and around the world killed by trophy hunters, whose main motivation is to display whole animals or their body parts for bragging rights. Given all the threats facing wild animals, including habitat loss, environmental...

Each year, American trophy hunters import a staggering 126,000 hunting trophies into the United States. This includes elephants and lions – animals whose numbers in the wild are in decline. That’s right. These animals, listed as threatened with extinction under federal law, are killed, taxidermied...

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...

Each December, we round up some of the year’s most notable successes in carrying on the fight for animal protection. For the next several weeks, alongside breaking news about animals and our efforts to protect them, I will bring you our top animal protection victories during this most unusual year...

Today, Canada took a historic step forward in defense of imperiled wild animals, announcing landmark regulations that ban trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn, as well as imports of hunting trophies containing these parts.

The annual Taking Action for Animals Conference, organized by the Humane Society of the United States with the Humane Society Legislative Fund and other supportive organizations, concluded today with hundreds of participants lobbying their members of Congress on Capitol Hill and discussing important...

A backyard breeder of primates who has been on our radar for years was in the news this week for an incident that defies all common sense. Michael Poggi, who runs his operation from his home in Florida, charged a man $150 in August for a “full contact experience” with an adult leopard in his...