Mississippi passes bill making animal torture an automatic felony; Iowa is now the only outlier in nation
We have good news to share from Mississippi and Iowa, the only two states in the nation without a law on the books that would make acts of animal torture, like burning, drowning and intentional starvation, an automatic felony. Recently, Mississippi’s state legislature passed a . . .
Breaking news: Nation’s top science panel recommends VA should stop most research on dogs
Three years ago, Americans were stunned to learn that puppies and adult dogs were being subjected to gruesome surgeries, induced heart attacks and other invasive procedures, and then being euthanized, as part of taxpayer-funded medical experiments being carried out at the McGuire Medical Center in . . .
Breaking news: U.S. House passes major infrastructure package with key provisions for wildlife corridors, horse transport
The U.S. House has just approved provisions that would make highways safer for wildlife to cross and create safer conditions to transport horses across the country, as part of the Moving Forward Act, a package of reforms designed to restore America’s aging infrastructure. The measures . . .
Breaking news: Colorado becomes seventh U.S. state to ban cages for egg-laying hens
Colorado has just banned cages for egg-laying chickens and will require that eggs produced and sold in the state be cage-free. The bill, which passed both chambers of the state legislature in June, was signed moments ago by Gov. Jared Polis. The new law will . . .
Taking humane summer camps online
Like most parents in this strange moment, I’ve spent the last few months watching my daughter complete her senior year and graduation ceremony largely online. This summer she had planned to work as a camp counselor to earn spending money for college but the camp, . . .
Putting an end to lion trophy hunting in memory of Cecil
The killing of Cecil the lion five years this week ago by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe triggered worldwide outrage. Father of a pride, lured with an elephant carcass, wounded by an arrow, he suffered for hours before being killed by gunshot. As it . . .
HSI brings much-needed food, medical help to companion animals affected by pandemic around the world
The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on companion animals around the world. Shelters and rescues in many countries are seeing an increase in abandoned dogs and cats or have had to remove animals from homes and localities where people have become sick or . . .
Key Congressional committee holds hearing on bill that restricts keeping primates as pets
In Arizona, a woman’s marmoset monkey attacked her newborn grandchild, scratching and biting the baby’s face and splitting open one nostril. In New York, a neighbor’s pet capuchin monkey bit off a 22-month-old girl’s finger when the child stuck her fingers through a backyard fence. . . .
Breaking news: Dutch parliament votes to permanently close mink fur farms
The Dutch parliament has voted to permanently shut down an estimated 128 mink fur farms in the wake of coronavirus outbreaks on 17 of these farms since April. If approved by the Dutch government, the decision would bring a welcome end to the cruel business . . .
Tragedy highlights Canada’s puppy mills problem
A tragic story from Canada underscores the vast, global scale of the puppy mill problem, and how important it is that we root it out wherever it exists. On June 13th, a Ukraine International Airlines flight carrying approximately 500 puppies, including at least 200 French . . .
Scotland bans fish farmers from shooting seals; law inspired by U.S. reforms for marine mammals
For years, Scotland has allowed fish farmers and other fisheries to shoot seals in order to keep them from eating their fish —a brutal practice that has resulted in so much unnecessary suffering and death among these charismatic marine mammals. Last week, in a long-awaited . . .
Legislation making it safer for wildlife to cross highways and mandating reforms for horse transport moves to full House for vote
A key House committee has approved a package of investments in America’s infrastructure, including provisions to make U.S. roadways safer for both drivers and wildlife and to create more humane conditions for transporting horses within the country. The INVEST in America Act package, H.R. 2, . . .
