By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Those who follow this blog know about the impending lawsuit in front of the United States Supreme Court, which will have immense consequences for animals. The case centers around Proposition 12, California’s landmark law to address animal cruelty and public health issues stemming from the worst factory farming practices.
The USDA National Organic Program has just published a long-awaited proposed Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards rule in the Federal Register. If finalized, the rule would be a landmark federal regulation specifically addressing the welfare of animals on farms. Among other things, it seeks to strengthen animal welfare standards on organic farms by clarifying space and freedom-to-move requirements for farm animals in the organic program.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Note: This blog is part of a series highlighting how the Humane Society family of organizations fight—and win—for animals. For this post, Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, joins with our president, Sara Amundson, to tell the story about how we tackle institutionalized animal suffering by changing laws and government regulations.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Sharks have been around for 450 million years, outliving the dinosaurs and surviving mass extinctions. But now, out of the 500 or so species (that we know of), a third of all sharks and shark-like species are threatened with extinction due to human activity. Some of these species include the unique scalloped hammerhead shark, the common thresher shark, which uses a long tail to stun prey and the bespeckled whale shark, the world’s largest living fish.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Update: We are delighted to report that the U.S. House passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263, by a strong bipartisan vote of 278 to 134. Thank you for helping us achieve this win by advocating for the bill to your Representative.
Now it’s the U.S. Senate’s turn to act. Please help us keep the momentum going by contacting your two Senators right now and urging them to support the Big Cat Public Safety Act, S. 1210!
Today’s approval by the U.S. House of Representatives of a FY23 budget package, H.R. 8294, produced sweeping animal protection gains across a range of concerns. Countless animals will benefit from the additional protections and funds that the package directs. Getting those provisions into this draft federal budget and keeping them there is an absolute priority for us, and we could not be more excited at the results so far. That is why this cluster of six appropriations bills is such an important focus of our animal protection agenda in Congress.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
You may have seen in the news that our Animal Rescue Team was approached by the U.S. Department of Justice to remove roughly 4,000 beagles from a breeding facility that supplied laboratories that test on animals. We are honored to have been chosen to lead this historic effort and to coordinate the placement of these dogs with our shelter partners to ultimately find them loving homes.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
This week offered more proof that our deliberate focus on the appropriations process for specific programs in the federal government can produce great things for animals, much as the passage of stand-alone humane legislation does. It’s why we pursue an “all-of-government” approach that treats budget decisions as important drivers of change and reform.
