Wildlife Welfare

Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of HSUS reports on OSHA’s investigation of the death of Dawn Brancheau who was killed by the largest Orca at SeaWorld. In February 2010, Dawn Brancheau, a veteran orca trainer at SeaWorld Florida, was killed by Tilikum, SeaWorld’s largest orca. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal agency […]

Exotic pets have become popular in recent years and are a booming industry. Some animal welfare organizations, such as PETA, are concerned with the dangers to both animals and humans resulting from trading in exotic animals. Transport of animals may be inhumane, and many animals will not survive the trip. This is especially true when […]

Wild animals are not meant to live in domesticity. Often, owners of these animals think they have tamed them, but when the animals reach sexual maturity they suddenly become aggressive. On the other hand, they are not fit to be released into the wild, since they have not learned the skills to allow them to […]

Thanks to the efforts of the Humane Society of the United States, private citizens are banned from having wild animals as pets. Current owners must microchip their animals and register them. Exotic animal owners who have had their local, state or federal licenses revoked are prohibited from holding such animals. Up till now Ohio was […]

News on Exotic Animals, Horse Soring, and Hounding of Bears and Bobcats Posted: 23 May 2012 01:44 PM PDT – Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO of HSUS There’s major news on three fronts where The HSUS has been demanding reform and new protections for animals. More specifically, in all three cases we are seeing substantial […]

The cruel, inhumane slaughter of seals is about to begin in Canada. This year the Canadian government has set the harp seal kill quota at the unconscionable number of 400,000. How can the Canadian government justify the slaughter of seals and allow the killing in such a massive number? With the meltdown of sea ice, […]

On April 8, 2012, the state of Alabama put into effect, a law banning the hunting of wild turtles and their eggs. The law does not affect farmed turtles. All turtle hunting permits have been canceled. Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas have already passed laws limiting turtle hunting. Alabama has 25 different species […]

Many animals are mistreated in the name of fashion. Furs may look warm and luxurious, but they are created with no regard for the suffering and pain of animals. Some wild animals are caught in traps to be used for fur. Once they have endured the pain of being caught by the leg in a […]

Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) reminds us that the welfare of the feral (or as they are sometimes known, wild) horses and burros on federal lands is a major concern. These animals are rounded up using helicopters and baiting them with water to lure them into a corral. This […]

Conservation and animal welfare are similar causes with many overlaps. However, there are occasions when the two concepts conflict. Conservation is focused on the survival of species in the wild, while animal welfare is concerned with the well-being of individual animals. One example of this conflict relates to the attitude toward zoos. Modern zoos focus […]