Category: The Humane Society of the United States

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The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
(202)452-1100
(202) 778-6132 FAX

Trophy hunters have slaughtered nearly 1,400 bobcats in Illinois since 2015. A new bill would stop the carnage.

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

Illinois’s treatment of its bobcats is not wildlife management; it is a handout to trophy hunters and trappers. Bobcats regulate their own populations based on available prey and they do not need to be hunted to keep their numbers in check. Photo by Danita Delimont Creative/Alamy Stock Photo

Since Illinois reopened its bobcat hunts in 2015, after a 40-year hiatus, trophy hunters and trappers have killed nearly 1,400 bobcats using some of the cruelest methods imaginable, like steel-jawed leghold traps. These devices are so painful that the animals sometimes gnaw through their own . . . 

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Some Iowa lawmakers push a bad bill to benefit puppy mills, roadside zoos

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

A dangerous bill in Iowa threatens to undo decades of progress for animals in the state, including dogs suffering in puppy mills and wild animals in traveling exhibits. The bill, SF 483, introduced by Sen. Dan Zumbach, ostensibly seeks to prevent cities and counties from . . . 

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Investigation finds online wildlife killing contests are thriving during pandemic

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

As with in-person contests, online wildlife killing contests award cash and prizes for the most, biggest or smallest animals killed. Photo by the HSUS

The Humane Society of the United States has helped make significant progress in ending wildlife killing contests, in which contestants massacre large numbers of coyotes, foxes, bobcats and other wild animals for cash prizes. Seven states now ban such contests and we are working with . . . 

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Puppy-selling pet stores like Petland have made consumers sick. HSUS/HSLF petition asks feds to require health risk warnings at outlets.

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

Our secret shopper bought Jasper (pictured above) at a Florence, Kentucky, Petland store. The manager falsely told our secret shopper that he was perfectly healthy and had been tested for campylobacter. We immediately took Jasper to an independent veterinarian who diagnosed him with campylobacter, giardia and other ailments. Photo by the HSUS

U.S. health authorities have conclusively linked numerous human cases of campylobacteriosis—a bacterial infection with often severe and debilitating symptoms—to infected puppies sold in several Petland pet stores. Today we filed a petition with the Consumer Product Safety Commission asking it to require that pet stores . . . 

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Biden administration withdraws Trump-era plan for higher line speeds at chicken slaughterhouses

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

Increased line speeds benefit no one but chicken producers looking to fatten their profits. Even at existing speeds, conditions inside a slaughterhouse are already immensely dangerous and inhumane. Photo by Kharkhan_Oleg/iStock.com

The Biden administration has withdrawn a deplorable pending rule that would have allowed qualifying chicken slaughter plants in the United States to permanently dial up line speeds from an already inhumane and lightning-fast 140 birds per minute to 175 birds per minute. The U.S. Department . . . 

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Efforts to open an early wolf trophy hunting season in Wisconsin defeated

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

Wisconsin residents got less than 48 hours’ notice about the hearing today, but hundreds of individuals, scientists, and tribal representatives still submitted written comments and nearly 50 people signed up to testify, with the majority opposing such a reckless rush to slaughter. Photo by JAMcGraw/iStock.com

An attempt by some Wisconsin lawmakers to ​force ​a ​rushed and unlawful wolf hunting season in the state beginning next month has been narrowly defeated by the state’s Natural Resources Board. In November, we reported how we had ​helped stop an effort by the Wisconsin . . . 

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House members reintroduce bill to ban cub petting, keeping big cats as pets

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

Americans today are more aware than ever before about the horrors that big cats endure in captivity at the hands of exhibitors and roadside zoo owners. Photo by the HSUS

A bill that would prohibit public contact with big cats like tigers, lions and leopards and ban the possession of these animals as pets was swiftly reintroduced in the U.S. House today, suggesting that the measure is poised for early action in Congress. The Big . . . 

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In 2020, we helped disband a trophy hunters’ advisory panel, retained protections for grizzly bears and ended more wildlife killing contests

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

We are urging South Africa to stop allowing the trophy hunting of elephants, lions, rhinos and leopards and our partners are urging China to ban the imports of rhino hunting trophies. Photo by Skynesher/iStock.com

Trophy hunting is a cruel and dangerous pastime that is pushing some of the world’s most iconic animals closer to extinction, and the Humane Society family of organizations has put our might behind stopping it. In the past four years we have encountered tremendous challenges . . . 

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Factory farms are baking pigs alive during the pandemic. Veterinarians call for changing guidance on this barbaric killing method

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

Ventilator shutdown involves locking a flock or herd of animals in a building and turning off the ventilation systems. As the temperature rises and gases inside the building accumulate, the animals suffocate to death, usually over a period of many hours. Photo by Dpa picture/Alamy

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 . . . 

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In 2020, we dismantled more cruel cages on factory farms and set new records for egg-laying hens

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

U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed that the egg industry is now 28.5% cage-free. That translates to over 90 million hens who will never suffer in a cage. Photo by David Paul Morris/For the HSUS

We have made remarkable progress in our work to end cruel cage confinement of farm animals during 2020. As a result, millions more animals around the world will no longer face lives of abject misery in tiny cages and crates on massive factory farms that . . . 

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