Today, we have posted the preview version of our annual Humane Scorecard covering the second half of the 119th Congress to help you assess the position of federal legislators on our priority measures. The 119th Congress has presented our movement with unprecedented challenges in many areas of serious concern, and with your support and engagement, we’ve done our best to hold the line against the worst threats to animal protection.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

This week, the New York Times reported that several hundred of America’s wild horses have been sold to slaughter, in a total betrayal of public trust, congressional direction and the historic legislation that first set the stage for their protection in the mid-twentieth century.

9/16/26 update: The Senate Agriculture Committee passed their version of the Farm Bill today, without the controversial Save Our Bacon Act on a party-line vote of 12-11. The Senate will need to work with the House, which included the Save Our Bacon Act in their version of the bill that passed in April, on a final version of the Farm Bill.

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.

With the advancement of the House Appropriations Committee’s FY 2027 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill on a 35-27 vote, we’ve reached a new stage in the war on wildlife.

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

Soring is an undeniably cruel practice involving the use of caustic chemicals (blistering agents like mustard oil, diesel fuel and kerosene) and constricting devices —stacked pads, chains and tight metal bands, and sometimes even the cutting or thinning of horses’ soles or the use of other means to make their feet particularly sensitive to pain.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block