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.
America has a big cat crisis. Untold numbers of captive tigers, lions, leopards and other big cat species are kept in captivity throughout the nation, most of them in shoddy roadside zoos, private menageries or in private homes and yards as pets. Today, to confront this cruelty and halt the worst excesses of the industry that exploits these animals so mercilessly, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263, by a vote of 25-17.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
When you’re a passionate animal welfare advocate, you might sometimes feel like a bit of an outsider.
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
When Humane Society of the United States investigators go out to take a close look at facilities that keep captive birds—roadside zoos, animal markets and others—they almost always return with the same dispiriting reports of dismal treatment and living conditions.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
With their barrel shape, huge teeth and jaws that can open to almost 180 degrees, hippos are characteristically unique and one of the world’s most recognizable animals. Hippos are also a keystone species: As “ecosystem engineers,” their behavior helps shape and maintain landscapes and habitats and promote biodiversity. Their presence is indispensable to the African lake and river areas they inhabit.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Update 3/15/2022: President Biden signed the appropriations package into law.
Humane advocates often look to the passage of animal-friendly legislation as the strongest measure of progress in our work at the federal level, and clearly, good laws are important. But a nation that cares for animals needs to prove that in its spending commitments, too. For that reason, we work to secure strong animal protection laws and to shape congressional funding priorities for key federal agencies.
