Elections / Aug 12, 2022
Candidates hit the campaign trail and animal protection advocates can join them
We are in the midst of the August recess—a traditional break in the DC legislative calendar for members of Congress and their staff to work from their congressional districts or in state. The halls of Congress are much quieter, with elected officials in their home districts and many legislative aides juggling their vacations with constituent work. Residents of Washington, D.C. even notice the lighter traffic and smaller crowds across the city.
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+ Read MoreState Legislation / Aug 11, 2022
2022 Maryland Humane Scorecard - Do your state lawmakers measure up on animal welfare?
Since 2006, with the primary goal of advancing federal animal protection legislation, the Humane Society Legislative Fund has published the Humane Scorecard to track the relevant votes, co-sponsorships, and other actions of federal lawmakers. It’s popular with our supporters, and it’s influential with legislators who know the value of a higher score.
Given the success of the scorecard, and with so much at stake for animals in state capitols, we’ve now started tracking key animal protection votes by state legislators.
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+ Read MoreFarm Animals / Aug 08, 2022
Breaking: New developments in key U.S. Supreme Court case for animals
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.
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+ Read MoreFarm Animals / Aug 05, 2022
USDA issues crucial organics standards rule on farm animal welfare
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. Now, we’re asking animal advocates to communicate their support for it.
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+ Read MoreFederal Legislation, State Legislation / Aug 05, 2022
How we work to save animals (part 2): Yes, there should be a law
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.
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+ Read MoreEquines, Federal Legislation / Jul 27, 2022
Victory in court for horses who need protection from cruel practice of ‘soring’
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
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+ Read MoreWildlife, Federal Legislation, In the News, State Legislation / Jul 25, 2022
How to make Shark Week good for sharks
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.
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+ Read MoreWildlife, Federal Legislation / Jul 22, 2022
Congress poised to vote! Contact your Reps to help captive big cats in the US
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!
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+ Read MoreAnimals in Research, Equines, Farm Animals, Pets & Cruelty, Wildlife, Federal Legislation / Jul 20, 2022
House delivers big on animal protection appropriations for FY23
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.
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+ Read MoreAnimals in Research / Jul 18, 2022
Breaking: Historic transport of approximately 4,000 beagles spared from animal testing
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.
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+ Read MoreWildlife / Jul 07, 2022
Big win: Federal court eliminates changes that weakened the Endangered Species Act
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
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+ Read MoreEquines, Wildlife, Federal Legislation / Jun 30, 2022
Gains in wildlife-related appropriations process make a big difference
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.
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