In the News

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the most consequential law ever passed in relation to the treatment of farm animals, California’s Proposition 12. Passed by voters in 2018, Proposition 12 bans the extreme confinement of mother pigs, egg-laying hens and baby calves, and outlaws the sale of pork, eggs and veal sourced from extreme confinement.

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.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

Update 5/11/2022: The Humane Society Legislative Fund has taken out a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post, urging the Biden administration to support Proposition 12 before the United States Supreme Court. We hope you'll join us and take a moment to tweet President Biden asking him to protect Proposition 12!

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

It is a long way from the stable, paddock and winner’s circle at Churchill Downs to the dark, dank and bloody slaughterhouses in which tens of thousands of American horses meet their sad and pitiable end each year.

Yet some former racehorses do make that terrible journey, and it’s hard not to think of them on the eve of the Kentucky Derby, the most celebrated of races.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

We learned last week about the outrageous killing of two iconic and rare “big tusker” male savanna elephants in an unpopulated corner of northern Botswana. “Big tusker” refers to an elephant with at least one tusk weighing 100 pounds but it effectively signifies an elephant who has survived for more than 50 years and whose knowledge and experience is irreplaceable to his herd.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The regulatory system in horse racing has been broken for years, and public confidence in the sport continues to wane. This week’s news that Medina Spirit is being stripped of his 2021 Kentucky Derby win is yet another blow.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

Wolves across most of the continental United States must have Endangered Species Act protections restored, a federal judge ruled yesterday, effectively prohibiting trophy hunting of the species across most of the country.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The original “Tiger King” Netflix series was a pandemic phenomenon with a train-wreck fascination for millions of viewers and a whole cast of unsavory characters. But the sideshow weirdness of the personalities involved kept many viewers from focusing on the big cat industry’s epidemic of cruelty.

For animal advocates, the passing of Senator Robert Dole is an occasion not just for remembrance but for plain and pure gratitude. He was one of us, and he put his name, his word and his imprint on some of the most important animal protection measures of the last fifty years. We’re going to miss him.