In Oklahoma, cockfighting’s corrupting influence was conspicuously evident in this election cycle. It featured not one but two state office seekers who were proudly soft on this bloodiest of blood sports, which is illegal under federal law and state laws throughout the nation.
It’s comforting to know that good judgment prevailed, while these two candidates did not.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
On a cold winter morning in January 1966, state troopers with a search warrant raided the property of an animal dealer in White Hall, Maryland. There, they found scores of dogs in distress, chained to boxes and barrels, jammed into wire pens and chicken crates, mired in their own waste, with no shelter from the elements or the numbing temperatures.
8/6/26 update: The Senate Agriculture Committee did not pass a Farm Bill today, leaving the controversial Save Our Bacon Act out of the legislation as negotiations continue.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The movement to end the cruel puppy mill pipeline has reached a significant milestone now that Delaware has passed a law prohibiting the sale of dogs and cats in pet shops.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
In late April, we released our annual Horrible Hundred report on puppy mills, exposing one hundred puppy mills across the U.S. More than half of these breeders were licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency tasked with upholding standards of care at many animal facilities, including commercial dog breeders, under the Animal Welfare Act.
Laws are often the reflection of the values of a society, and that’s why we support the passage of laws that protect animals from cruelty. In a nation like the U.S., state and local laws are frequently as important as federal laws, and they play a fundamental role in our efforts to secure the highest level of protection possible for animals at risk.
Update June 4, 2026: The U.S. House of Representatives passed its FY 2027 federal funding bill for the USDA and the FDA with a vote of 213 - 210. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet released its version of this bill. One positive note from today’s floor debate: the House approved two amendments led by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.)—to prevent FDA from issuing guidelines calling for dog testing and to prevent USDA from conducting or funding painful research on dogs or cats.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
In August 2025, at a dog breeding operation in Missouri, a husky mix named Masterpiece got sick with diarrhea and appeared weak. The owner of the facility, who is licensed under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, simply killed him.
In response, the USDA suspended the breeder’s license in January for just 21 days. Now the license is active again.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
