By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
For the 190 million animals used in testing and research each year around the world, the shift to non-animal methods cannot come soon enough.
We have always been determined to see a day when elected officials, heads of major government agencies, and the leaders of scientific institutions and corporations came around to the position we have held for a long time:
That we need not rely on animals to gauge the safety of chemical and pesticide products.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
In late April, we released our annual Horrible Hundred report on puppy mills, exposing one hundred puppy mills across the U.S. More than half of these breeders were licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency tasked with upholding standards of care at many animal facilities, including commercial dog breeders, under the Animal Welfare Act.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
What just happened in the U.S. House of Representatives could spell tragedy for gray wolves. Thursday’s vote on H.R. 845, a bill to remove federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states, passed by the smallest of margins, 211-204. Now, this legislation moves to the Senate, where we still have a chance to stop it.
The last thing this nation needs is a pathway to more reckless trophy hunting and recreational trapping seasons that target wolves. But that’s what H.R. 845 is all about.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Update August 1, 2025: The Senate passed the FY 2026 federal funding bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration with a bipartisan vote of 87-9. The bill awaits further action in the U.S. House of Representatives.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
It’s a long way from the arid desert habitat where a wild horse now named Smoke was born, but now Black Beauty Ranch, in Murchison, Texas, is home. The journey to our sanctuary has made all the difference for this handsome grey horse who has traveled all the areas of the sanctuary, bonding with the other mustangs. Smoke grazes peacefully watching over his friends who were once separated but are together again. No one can harm him here.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
On Wednesday afternoon, in a move supporting the notion that the species needs more time to recover, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would not prematurely remove Endangered Species Act protections from grizzly bears living in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystems—the two largest populations in the continental U.S. Wyoming and Montana had petitioned the agency to delist grizzly bears and turn the management of the animals over to the states.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Some fights for animals are a long-game—and that’s certainly been the case for everyone’s favorite long-necked animal, the giraffe. After years of advocacy, we are thrilled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing all four species of giraffes under the Endangered Species Act. This overdue proposal comes thanks to a petition and lawsuit brought by us and our allies.
