Pets & Cruelty, Action Alerts, In the News /
Members of Congress join rescue pups at U.S. Capitol to urge passage of bill ending malicious acts of cruelty like crushing animals and bestiality
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
It may be hard to believe, but some of the most malicious acts of animal cruelty—including crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, and impaling animals and sexually exploiting them—are not felonies under federal law. Today, a bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol, along with several rescue dogs, to urge the House of Representatives to pass a bipartisan bill to ban these acts.
Equines, Pets & Cruelty, Wildlife, Federal Legislation, In the News /
Our animal protection agenda wins big in House Appropriations funding package
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
There’s a reason why the Humane Society Legislative Fund and the Humane Society of the United States invest substantial time and effort in seeking to shape funding decisions within the U.S. Congress; it pays off big for animal protection. Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted 227-194 to pass a large package of fiscal year 2020 appropriations bills to fund several federal departments, including Agriculture, Interior and Commerce. H.R. 3055 features a number of great provisions for animals. Some of the most important include:
Farm Animals, Food /
EPA gives factory farms a free pass on toxic air emissions
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
In an unlawful move, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided to exempt massive factory farms from reporting their toxic air emissions—released from animal waste created by these facilities—to state and local authorities. The rule, finalized last week, will leave American residents who live in rural areas surrounding factory farms in the dark about potentially dangerous air pollutants that these facilities could be discharging into their environment, posing a serious health hazard to them and their families.
Equines, Action Alerts, Federal Legislation, In the News /
Horse deaths at Santa Anita underscore need for racing reform nationwide
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Animals in Research /
New USDA animal care fact sheets focus more on gloss than truly improving animal care
The Animal Welfare Act is supposed to ensure the humane treatment of animals—from dogs to elephants—at zoos, commercial breeders, research labs, and other regulated facilities. For years, the Humane Society Legislative Fund and the Humane Society of the United States have pressed the U.S.
Equines, Farm Animals, Pets & Cruelty, Federal Legislation, In the News /
Agriculture spending bill directs USDA to resume posting inspection reports; prevents horse slaughter; funds domestic violence/pet shelter program
The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee has just voted to approve its Fiscal Year 2020 bill, and there’s great news for animals, including wildlife, companion animals, and horses.
Equines, Wildlife, Federal Legislation, In the News /
Spending bills move up in Congress, with progress for wild horses and burros, wolves and other wildlife
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Wildlife, Action Alerts /
An American trophy hunter wants to bring home an endangered cheetah he killed in Namibia
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The cheetah, an animal capable of top speeds of 75 miles per hour, is racing toward extinction, with just 7,100 animals left in the wild. Recently, in another expression of the callous disregard trophy hunters show for the world’s most endangered and at-risk animals, an American who killed a cheetah in Namibia, has applied to import trophy parts from his kill into the United States.
Wildlife, Action Alerts, In the News /
Urgent alert! Act now to prevent trophy hunting of gray wolves
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Time is running out for America’s gray wolves. The opportunity to weigh in on a proposed federal rule that would prematurely strip Endangered Species Act protections for the wolves in the lower 48 states ends soon, and it is important that you comment by tomorrow. These animals are still in a fragile state of recovery after years of persecution, and delisting them could have disastrous consequences for their future and for the well-being of the ecosystems in which they live.
Pets & Cruelty, Federal Legislation /
Bill in Congress would require better veterinary care, other reforms for dogs in puppy mills
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
A quartet of bipartisan U.S. Representatives today introduced a bill that would strengthen baseline standards for commercial dog dealers regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Animal Welfare Act.
Uncategorized /
Preventing the lethal control and slaughter of America’s wild horses and burros
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
In recent years, understanding our firm and absolute opposition to horse slaughter in the United States and to the cruelty and inefficiency of the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro work, frustrated members of Congress have been pressing the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund to advance a solution-focused proposal. And now, with the ASPCA, Return to Freedom and other groups, we’ve done so.
Equines /
Proposal offers brighter future for wild horses and burros
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program is broken. Since inception of the program, the BLM has removed approximately 270,000 wild horses and burros from our public lands, without any significant use of fertility control tools, and without a plan to ensure the long-term viability and humane treatment of wild horses and burros.
