By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The appropriations bill and accompanying coronavirus relief/stimulus package for fiscal year 2021 now advancing through Congress will bring critical and much-needed support to millions of Americans. We are also pleased to report that the package, which funds federal agencies, includes a number of wins for animals, including horses, wildlife, companion animals and animals in research.

We’ve advocated for these and other items throughout 2020. Here, in brief, are key measures in the package that benefit animals:

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

An HSUS undercover investigator has recorded video footage of animals living in dismal conditions at puppy mills in the Midwest that have never or only rarely been cited for neglecting the animals in their care by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal agency whose job is to ensure these operations abide by the Animal Welfare Act.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The United States is one of the world’s largest destinations for illegal wildlife products. Each year, traffickers smuggle in millions of dollars’ worth of items from poached animals, including shark fins, pangolin scales, ivory trinkets, animal trophies, and live animals like monkeys, parrots and snakes for the pet trade and entertainment.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The Senate Committee on Appropriations today released a package of 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021, and it is a mixed bag for animals.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

An overwhelming majority of Kentucky voters oppose horse soring—the intentional infliction of pain on the hooves and legs of Tennessee walking horses and related breeds—and want Congress to end it, according to the results of a new poll we are releasing today.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The trade in live wild animals and their body parts threatens the survival of so many wildlife species, and it poses serious global security and public health risks. In a one-two punch targeting this international crisis, members of Congress have introduced bills that would bolster our nation’s ability to fight poaching and trafficking, and support U.S efforts to engage diplomatically with other nations to end the sales of live and fresh wildlife for human consumption.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

With a proposal to permit the killing of brown bears over bait in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has “gone rogue.” The USFWS and its parent agency, the Department of the Interior, are way over on the dark side when it comes to the killing of charismatic wildlife by America’s trophy hunters.