Mexico is home to the only operating octopus farm in the Western Hemisphere. Right now in Mexico, octopuses are being forced into tanks where more than half die before they ever reach slaughter. Inside octopus farms, they are confined together with no way to escape one another. Researchers report that the stress and aggression inside these tanks is so severe that octopuses attack each other. Arms are torn off. Fresh wounds are left untreated. Some animals are killed and parti

Kiki did not run from anyone. She seemed to believe that being gentle would keep her safe. We found Kiki lying on dusty ground beside stacked bricks at a construction site. The sun was scorching, and she had no shelter. It was not a place any dog should live, but she had nowhere else to go. She had no food or water, and the dirt beside the bricks was the only spot she could lie down. When we approached, Kiki was gentle and friendly. She lifted her head, wagged softly, and a

Vulnerable kittens need protection long before they find a home. Today is National Kitten Day, a day that celebrates kittens while drawing attention to the many young cats still waiting for safety, care, and a home. Nearly half of all cats entering U.S. shelters are kittens, with about 1.58 million admitted in a single year.  Earlier this year, a two-month-old kitten named Elmer was brought to a Texas shelter after he was found covered in glue and close to death. Rescuers sp

Prevention is the best protection against becoming lost. July is Lost Pet Prevention Month, a campaign focused on helping animals stay safe and avoid becoming lost in the first place. An estimated one in three companion animals will go missing during their lifetime. In the U.S. alone, roughly 10 million dogs and cats are reported lost each year. One of those animals was Lola, a dog from Georgia who once saved her family's lives by alerting them to a house fire in the middle o

Fires can escalate in minutes, leaving animals with little chance to escape on their own. Today is National Pet Fire Safety Day, a day that raises awareness about the risks house fires pose to companion animals and the steps that can help keep them safe. According to the National Fire Protection Association, approximately 500,000 companion animals are affected by house fires each year, including about 1,000 fires accidentally started by animals themselves. One of those animal

Protection is a basic need, not a reward. Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has removed hundreds of animal cruelty posts and abusive accounts.  Some of the videos showed helpless kittens thrown into water before someone stepped in for a staged “rescue.” Others showed puppies, cats, and baby monkeys terrified, trapped, injured, or deliberately placed in danger while cameras recorded every second. Happiness grows when suffering is prevented. Viewers thought they

A registered microchip is only as useful as the information linked to it. Today is National ID Your Pet Day, a day dedicated to helping companion animals find their way back home if they ever become lost. It serves as an annual reminder to check collars, ID tags, and microchip information so companion animals can be reunited with the people who love them. After disappearing in 2014, Sierra was found 12 years later in a Florida shelter, more than 1,400 miles away from where s

Fireworks can turn celebration into panic and escape. July 4th celebrations last a few hours. For some dogs, the consequences can last a lifetime. For weeks, the Orcas Island community in Washington searched for a young dog named Kai. He bolted from the West Beach Resort into the dark after being startled by the sudden explosion of July 4th fireworks. Everyone on the island came together to look for him. But despite all their hard work and massive search efforts, Kai was nev

Small dogs are not exempt from the dangers of the meat trade. Warning: Graphic images appear below. They are included to show the reality and severity of the dog and cat meat trade. A dog spends days trapped inside a crowded wire cage without food or water. There is not enough space to lie down. Paws become trapped between sharp metal bars. Raw skin is scraped away as bodies are forced against wire cages for hundreds of miles. By the time many animals reach Yulin, some are

I had no one to come looking when things got hard. My name is Blair and I’m a Pilot Pup rescued by Team 600MillionDogs. Every June, the U.S. celebrates Father’s Day, a time to recognize and appreciate fathers and father figures for the care and support they give in families. I grew up without a father figure to protect me from a harsh life on the streets. My body was weak from dehydration and exhaustion as I stood alone in the grass near a village road. I felt abandoned, watc

Behind closed doors, thousands of shelter animals still face the terror of Japan’s gas chambers. Dogs and cats in parts of Japan’s public shelter system are still euthanized inside carbon dioxide gas chambers known as “Dream Boxes.” These sealed metal chambers are designed to kill multiple animals at once by pumping in carbon dioxide gas until the animals suffocate. Investigations described dogs howling, clawing at metal walls, trembling, gasping for air, and collapsing duri

In Eliza’s eyes, it was clear she no longer expected anyone to notice her. We found Eliza at the back of a residential area, near an open ground where children play. She was standing off to the side and did not leave that spot as we approached. Then she walked toward us on her own and let us place a leash on her. Eliza stayed beside us as we walked her away from that area and brought her to our shelter. Our veterinarian examined her and confirmed she was healthy and strong.

Freedom finally replaces fear. A woman in Iowa has been sentenced to two years in prison for animal torture after authorities found one dog dead inside a suitcase and another alive in severe neglect. She also received a separate sentence for neglect, but the judge ordered it to run at the same time, so she will serve two years in total. Investigators discovered that the dead dog had tape binding his front paws and a cord wrapped around his neck. The other dog was found alive

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s plans to use helicopters to drive horses from above and push them into corrals. A newborn foal can barely stand, yet she is forced to run for her life as a loud helicopter chases her from above. Sharp rocks slice into her soft hooves until blood forms with every step. Her mother stays close, desperate to protect her, but both are driven faster and faster with no chance to stop. Right now, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to driv

Surviving means little without legal protection. Right now, animals in West Virginia remain vulnerable to one of the most horrific forms of cruelty: sexual abuse. Every other state has passed laws to make this a crime. West Virginia has not, and that gap is already showing its impact. In one investigation, police found videos on a phone of a dog being pinned down and sexually abused by the people responsible for that animal. In another case, officers entered a broken-down s

Every tuft of mohair began with an animal who had no say. A child hugs a soft teddy bear from FAO Schwarz, unaware that the "luxury" mohair used in these toys is ripped from goats in a cycle of unimaginable violence. On mohair farms, goats are grabbed by their horns and legs and dragged across hard floors as they fight desperately to break free. Some are lifted by their tails, which can snap their spine. Their bodies are forced down so hard that they cannot move. Blades te

Nature offers what stores cannot. PetSmart has officially stopped selling turtles, tortoises, and several other live species across its stores in North America. For years, many of these animals were kept in crowded containers, arrived weak, or did not survive the journey. Inside store holding areas, space and care often fell short of what these animals needed to stay healthy.  Federal law in the United States had already banned the sale of very small turtles because of healt

A single injury reveals the violence hidden behind every shipment. Frogs slaughtered for their legs are transported in tightly packed sacks where they can barely move. Many arrive at processing facilities already injured and suffocating. Workers pull them out and begin cutting into their bodies while they are still conscious. No anesthesia is used. Skin is torn from living tissue by hand. Limbs are severed while the animals are still reacting to pain. The journey begins in

A mother’s love doesn’t stop for rain. Today is Mother’s Day, and for stray animals, it is not about flowers or comfort. It is about staying alive long enough to keep their babies alive. Bentley was a stray in Texas when she went into labor during a weekend of heavy storms. Rain kept falling while she searched for somewhere to give birth, but there was no shelter and no dry ground. She delivered eleven puppies outside, exposed to the cold and the rain. By the time she was

Bees fight to survive in a world shaped by human choices. Today is World Bee Day — a day that draws attention to how human actions are killing bees at a scale the world can no longer ignore. In Brazil, nearly 500 million bees were killed after pesticide spraying contaminated the areas where they fed. Fields that had been alive with movement turned silent almost overnight. Entire colonies collapsed within hours. The chemicals were known, the danger was clear , yet the spray