For decades, the welfare of most chickens raised and slaughtered for meat has been deeply concerning: These “broiler chickens” have been selectively bred for rapid weight gain and muscle mass to such an extreme that they are inherently prone to painful, debilitating leg problems and have difficulty...

Tomorrow, citizens in California and Florida will vote on critical animal protection measures with profound and lasting implications for humane work. In California, a virtual army of Humane Society of the United States staff members and volunteers are making the case for a ballot measure that would...

Each year, millions of homeless pets enter U.S. shelters and approximately two million dogs and cats are euthanized. This is a huge improvement since the 1970s when it was closer to 15 million, but it’s still too many. That’s why ending pet homelessness is a key goal for the Humane Society of the...

Only a few years ago, it may have appeared unfathomable for McDonald’s to make a commitment to use 100% cage-free eggs in its restaurants, or for poultry giant Perdue to announce game-changing reforms for chickens raised for meat. One might have never imagined entire states, including California...

Fashion seasons and runway shows without animal fur. Organ-on-a-chip technologies for testing cosmetics and other products. A transition to cage-free and crate-free systems that can change the lives of countless chickens and pigs in vast food supply networks. Plant-based meals in major restaurant...

Just about every one of us who comes into this work has the same question in mind: “What can I do to make a difference?” In the end it’s something that we each have to answer for ourselves. But there is no shortage of good examples in our midst. Like Karen Greb’s. Motivated by an article in All...

VICTORY! In California, voters have approved Proposition 12, a historic measure that will improve the lives of tens of millions of farm animals by prohibiting cruel cage confinement of egg-laying hens, pigs used for breeding, and calves raised for veal in small cages that immobilize them their...

As a result of slaughterhouse closures during the pandemic, some producers have used a cruel method called “ventilation shutdown,” or VSD, to kill whole herds of pigs. Ventilator shutdown involves locking a flock or herd of animals in a building and turning off the ventilation systems. As the...

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...

In 2025, several significant state-level measures resulting from our public policy efforts take effect. These are milestone achievements which will alleviate suffering and improve the lives of animals across the nation.

We now know for certain that the Farm Bill to be considered by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee contains language that seeks to undo more than a dozen state laws on humane treatment of farm animals including California’s Proposition 12, widely considered the nation’s strongest law on farm animal welfare. The groundbreaking ballot initiative was voted into law by a wide margin, with more than 7.5 million voters supporting it, and was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court after the pork industry lobby filed legal challenges.

The progress achieved in 2024 made our case to end the fur trade even stronger, and because of the victories we gained this year, we’ll likely see a further decline in the number of animals killed for their fur next year and for years to come.

We recently celebrated progress toward protecting wolves, bears, coyotes, cougars, foxes, bobcats and other native carnivores living on the vast U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service advanced a rule that would protect them from lethal and flawed “predator control” programs. Until the rule is finalized, however, their lives still hang in the balance, waiting for a decision that could mean the difference between life and death. Such is the power that public policy has over the lives of animals. And it’s just one decision that we’re urging the Biden administration to make before election season stalls critical activity to finalize protections for so many species.

Note: This blog is part of a series highlighting how we fight—and win—for animals. For this post, I join with Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, to tell the story about how we tackle institutionalized animal suffering by changing laws and government regulations. “Why...

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.

Today, the Humane Society of the United States asked the Federal Trade Commission, the government agency charged with protecting consumers, to investigate allegedly deceptive marketing claims made by Pilgrim’s Pride, the second largest chicken producer in the United States, which wrongly leads...

The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Alliance, an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, is the nation’s only organization for veterinary professionals that focuses solely on animal welfare. The HSVMA contributes to the work we do every day, by bringing the important veterinary voice...

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...

We were nervous and excited as we gathered outside the Supreme Court of the United States on the morning of a day we won't ever forget, Oct. 11, 2022. The court was about to hear arguments about Proposition 12, a landmark law passed by California voters in 2018 to improve the treatment of pigs...

Each year, the Humane Society of the United States recognizes lawmakers and corporations who support and adopt humane principles in their work. This week, I was on Capitol Hill with colleagues from the Humane Society Legislative Fund to honor 173 lawmakers with our Humane Awards, for their work to...