Author: Blog Editor

Interior Department packs wildlife advisory panel with trophy hunters, firearms lobbyists

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

In Zimbabwe, the country from which most elephant trophies imported to the United States originate, wildlife management is so poor that the country has lost six percent of its elephants since 2001. Photo by iStockphoto

Had the Department of the Interior appointed Ted Nugent and Phil and Si from Duck Dynasty to its International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC), we might at least have been able to laugh a little. As things stand, however, it’s a crying shame. Formed in November 2017, the council is little more than a trophy hunting . . . 

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For Beemo and 88 other dogs from a Korean dog meat farm, a better life begins in Montreal

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

The most gratifying moment came when Gus Kenworthy was reunited with Beemo, the dog he adopted from a South Korean dog meat farm HSI recently closed down. Photo by Dario Ayala/AP Images for HSI

The 2018 Winter Olympics may be over, but for some of us the celebration of success continues. For Humane Society International, it was the closure of our 11th dog meat farm in South Korea, which happened during the Pyeongchang Games. Yesterday, I flew to Montreal to spend a day at our emergency shelter there, and . . . 

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USDA abandons rule on higher welfare standards for animals raised under organics label

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

The rule prohibited cruel practices like “tail docking” of cattle and transporting animals too sick or injured to endure the journey. Photo by iStockphoto

Despite strong public support for the measure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has killed a rule that established clear and meaningful protections and higher animal welfare standards for farm animals raised under the organics label. The USDA delayed implementation of the rule three times before yesterday’s announcement that it would formally withdraw the rule. This . . . 

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Jury finds New Hampshire Great Dane breeder guilty of animal cruelty

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

Today’s verdict is a fitting end to a horror story that began to unfold in June 2017, when The HSUS assisted in an extraordinary rescue of 84 Great Danes from a New Hampshire mansion belonging to a wealthy breeder. Photo by Lindsay Hamrick/The HSUS

In a huge victory in our ongoing fight against commercial breeders who neglect and mistreat the animals in their care, a New Hampshire jury today found a woman who kept 84 Great Danes in filthy conditions inside a New Hampshire mansion guilty on 17 counts of animal cruelty. This is a fitting end to a . . . 

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Something’s rotten at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

A new book by an Oxford University wildlife biologist lays bare the circumstances of Cecil the lion’s death at the hands of the wealthy Minnesota dentist, Walter Palmer. Palmer and his guides used a slaughtered elephant as bait, let Cecil suffer for hours in agony, and then took steps to cover up their seemingly illegal actions. Photo by 500px Prime

Most Americans learned about the trophy killing fringe group Safari Club International for the first time in July 2015. That’s when one of its members, Walter Palmer, killed Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe, leaving the poor creature in agonizing mortal pain for at least 10 hours before deigning to finish him off. A new book . . . 

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California ballot measure would set a new precedent for farm animal welfare across the globe

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

The California initiative would go further than any farm animal protection measure ever considered, banning the sale of veal, eggs, and pork from facilities that force animals to spend their entire lives inside cruel and inhumane cages and crates. Photo by iStockphoto

In just six weeks, The HSUS and a coalition of leading farm animal protection organizations will deliver the signatures needed to launch a California ballot measure that The Guardian described as “History in the making.” That’s fitting, because the ballot and referendum process is a true gem of American politics, a chance for citizens to . . . 

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Harmful provisions in Congress’s spending bill would strip protections for wolves, reopen horse slaughter plants

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

The House Interior Appropriations bill contains an amendment to allow the Bureau of Land Management to kill thousands of healthy wild horses and burros. Photo by Jennifer Kunz/The HSUS

As Congress works to finalize its FY18 spending bill to fund the federal government, key protections for animals are under attack. Some members, beholden to special interests, are attempting to reopen horse slaughter plants in the United States, authorize the killing of thousands of healthy wild horses and burros, strip Endangered Species Act protections for . . . 

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Defying Trump, Fish and Wildlife Service reverses ban on “horror show” of elephant and lion trophy imports

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

This latest move by the FWS will undermine efforts to protect elephants and lions in Africa, whose populations are already under threat due to poaching and unsustainable levels of recreational trophy hunting. Photo by Cathy Smith

In a total departure from the position taken by President Trump in November when he called trophy hunting a “horror show,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has lifted existing bans on the import of elephant and lion trophies from certain African countries, and has signaled it will approve such imports on a case by . . . 

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Bills in Iowa would force grocery stores to sell eggs from caged hens

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

A hen in a battery cage is forced to spend her entire life in a space that’s smaller than the dimensions of an iPad. Photo by The HSUS

The HSUS works year-round to secure the passage of animal protection bills in state legislatures, and to block bad ones advanced by lobbyists for Big Ag. Some lawmakers in Iowa have recently introduced two retrograde bills that seek to reverse the good work done by animal protection advocates in improving conditions for hens in battery . . . 

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As world watches Pyeongchang, HSI focuses attention on Korea’s grisly dog meat trade

Animal Rights & Environment, The Humane Society of the United States

HSI team members and local activists at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, with the mobile awareness campaign truck, “Look Inside a Dog Meat Farm.”
Photo by HSI

By Kitty Block A new generation of heroes has emerged in South Korea, and they are my friends and colleagues. This weekend, as viewers around the world tuned in to watch skating, skiing, hockey, and other sports at the Winter Games, I waited for news from the Humane Society International rescue team working just down . . . 

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