By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Like an alarm bell in the night, COVID-19 has cut through the uneasy silence of the world’s failure to address pandemic illness tied to the trade, transport and consumption of wildlife. The notion that we could have prevented COVID-19 by taking decisive steps to curb that trade a decade or two ago should and will haunt us for generations. Still, it is not too late to act, and it is more urgent than ever that we do so.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The nation’s most authoritative voice on infectious diseases today sounded a stern warning about the dangers of the wildlife trade and its relationship to pandemic diseases like COVID-19.
In an interview with Fox News, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci called for the global community to pressure China and other nations to close down their wildlife markets, where live animals are sold and slaughtered for food.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
With hundreds of millions of people required to stay indoors during the coronavirus pandemic, the media is reporting an alarming increase in domestic violence incidents the world over. This includes the United States where calls to help lines have jumped dramatically.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The killing last week of Takaya, the lone wolf of Canada’s Discovery Island whose story of survival and resilience captivated people around the globe, is a grim reminder of the uphill battle wolves face in the modern world.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
A decade ago, a Humane Society of the United States's undercover investigation delved into the bizarre world of Joseph Maldonado-Passage (aka Joe Exotic) and his roadside zoo, GW Exotics. For years, Joe and his band of untrained workers kept hundreds of big cats and other wild animals in captivity in barren conditions, bred them to provide infant animals for public photo shoots and “play time” sessions, and even shot animals dead when they were of no use to him anymore.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The $2 trillion emergency stimulus bill that cleared Congress today carries important prospective benefits for the animal care and services sector. These include a temporary expansion of charitable deduction provisions, opportunities for business continuity loans to cover payroll, paid leave, health-insurance premiums, facilities costs, and debt service, and increased tax incentives for corporate giving.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
At the G20 coronavirus meeting today, global leaders, including President Trump, brainstormed on ways to control the coronavirus pandemic that is now ravaging dozens of nations, leaving a vast trail of human casualties in its wake. But one thing that didn’t come up was the reason why we are in this predicament in the first place: the unchecked trade, transport and consumption of wildlife.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The Trump administration’s course on wildlife policy, riddled with handouts to trophy hunters, took another wrong turn last week with the hiring of Anna Seidman, a litigator for Safari Club International, to head a key office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Supporters of our work should know that the entire Humane Society Legislative Fund staff has transitioned to remote work. We’re working hard to call attention to the needs of local humane societies and other animal service agencies, and to make federal legislators mindful of the critical role these entities play. And we’re also continuing to advance our regular mission of giving animals the best possible representation in the nation’s capital.
