Category: Public Policy (Legal/Legislative)

Triple Crown season began with the racing industry under a cloud over horse deaths, trainer indictments

Animal Rights & Environment, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States

For decades, some trainers have used the absence of clear national medication standards to push horses to their limit with the use of drugs that can be harmful and even deadly for the animals. Photo by FatCamera/iStock.com

The coronavirus pandemic is not the only problem plaguing the horse racing industry as it prepares for the first of the Triple Crown races at Belmont Stakes this Saturday with altered schedules, shorter race times and a TV-only audience. This past year has placed the . . . 

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Horrible Hundred report leads to closures of problem puppy mills in states, spurs new laws in states, localities

Animal Rights & Environment, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States

Spurred by a local puppy mill’s coverage in our Horrible Hundred report, Will County, Illinois, is now considering new policies to more effectively combat puppy mill cruelty. The report exposed that a puppy mill linked to many complaints and poor conditions (pictured above) is still operating without any penalties because local laws are so minimal.

For the last eight years, we have published the annual Horrible Hundred report listing 100 problem puppy mills in the United States. We do this to raise awareness about and fight a deep-seated problem of irresponsible and greedy commercial dog sellers who mistreat the animals . . . 

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Dutch fur farms are gassing 350,000 mink, mostly pups, following coronavirus outbreak

Animal Rights & Environment, Humane Society International, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States, Wildlife/Marine Mammals

The problem came to light in April, when two fur farm workers in the Netherlands were found to have contracted the coronavirus from mink, which is the only known animal-to-human transmission following the initial outbreak. Photo by Mark Hicken/Alamy Stock Photo

The Netherlands is expected to kill more than 350,000 mink by gassing, in a massive cull following an outbreak of coronavirus on fur farms in the country. It is estimated that most of these—about 300,000—are pups just days or weeks old. The killing of animals . . . 

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Missouri moves to shut down Horrible Hundred puppy mill for keeping dogs in filthy conditions

Animal Rights & Environment, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States

Vigilance by state authorities is more important now than ever before because in recent years the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which licenses about 2,900 puppy mills nationwide, including about 800 in Missouri, has abandoned its responsibility to enforce the Animal Welfare Act. Photo by Michelle Riley/The HSUS

Just days after the release of our annual Horrible Hundred report, Missouri’s attorney general has sued to shut down one of the puppy mills named in it. The owners of Little Bit Ranch in Unionville, Missouri, failed to provide adequate veterinary care for their dogs . . . 

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HSUS, HSLF and partners urge Congress to end higher killing speeds at slaughterhouses

Animal Rights & Environment, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes slower speeds are needed, recommending that facilities reduce their rates of animal processing to allow for critical social distancing measures. Photo by t-lorien/iStock.com

In recent weeks, even as slaughterhouses have emerged as hotspots for the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration has been quietly issuing record numbers of waivers for them to kill animals at higher speeds. Now, a coalition of animal welfare groups, workers groups and consumer organizations . . . 

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Colorado bans all wildlife killing contests targeting coyotes, swift foxes and other species as more western states consider similar measures

Animal Rights & Environment, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States, Wildlife/Marine Mammals

Wildlife killing contests are gruesome events, in which participants compete to kill some of the most persecuted animals on the North American continent, including swift foxes (pictured above), for cash and prizes. Photo by Robert Harding/Alamy Stock Photo

Colorado has closed a loophole in its law to end all wildlife killing contests of furbearing animals, including coyotes, bobcats, swift foxes and prairie dogs. Although the state had already banned most such contests in 1997, a regulatory loophole permitted some events that limited the . . . 

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Greyhound racing on its last lap: Alabama closes final track; Florida judge throws out challenge to landmark racing ban

Animal Rights & Environment, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States

Greyhound racing now survives solely on state subsidies in the three remaining states—West Virginia, Texas and Iowa—that still have operating tracks. Photo by Cyndi Rennick

Greyhound racing moved closer than ever to its certain demise in the United States this week, with two significant victories in Florida and Alabama. On Monday, a U.S. District Court judge rejected a lawsuit by the greyhound industry that sought to overturn Amendment 13, the . . . 

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HSUS sues USDA over policies that risk future pandemics

Animal Rights & Environment, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States

Influenza spreads within factory farms directly from animal to animal or by way of workers, flies, manure, and rodents. When thousands of animals are tightly confined it creates a recipe for disaster, in which potential pathogens can recombine and generate viral forms with the ability to infect people.

Today the Humane Society of the United States filed a federal lawsuit challenging the response plan for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (or “bird flu”) of the United States Department of Agriculture. The response plan, produced by the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, is shortsighted and . . . 

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World Health Organization says nations should end wildlife trade

Animal Rights & Environment, Humane Society International, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States, Wildlife/Marine Mammals

Dr. Anthony Fauci has called wildlife markets “a superhighway” for transmission of disease. Above, a wildlife market in Indonesia. Photo by Dog Meat Free Indonesia

The World Health Organization is calling on nations to end wildlife markets because of the high risk they pose for the spread of pathogens like the coronavirus that can jump from animals to humans. This week, David Nabarro, a medical doctor and the special envoy . . . 

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More than 86 million egg-laying hens in the U.S. are now cage-free

Animal Rights & Environment, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), The Humane Society of the United States

While a cage-free setting is by no means an ideal environment, it is a much better alternative to a battery cage. Photo by David Paul Morris

New federal data released this month shows the enormous progress we have made toward the goal of ending the cruel cage confinement of farm animals in the United States. More than a quarter (26.2%) of eggs produced in our nation are now cage-free, according to . . . 

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