Animals
From The Observatory
Animals
Captive wildlife environments can create conditions that increase stress, weaken immune systems, and heighten the risk of disease transmission between animals and humans.
Many outdoor cats labeled “feral” are traumatized domesticated animals living without safety, care, or protection. A trauma-informed approach could improve the lives of millions of homeless cats and reshape animal welfare policy.
Sand tiger sharks, often feared for their appearance, are surprisingly nonaggressive and face grave threats from humans; new research helps track their populations, behavior, and reproduction along the U.S. East Coast.
A wave of innovators is reinventing fur, delivering animal-free alternatives with all the luxury, warmth, and style—without the cruelty or carbon emissions.
A growing public interest in animal rights and welfare is persuading cities to protect working horses from inhumane treatment.
Ostrich feathers once drove global fashion and trade, revealing the origins of sustainable practices and ethical awareness in the plume industry.
Despite significant advances in human-based research, millions of mice and rats are still used in U.S. laboratories each year—at immense ethical and scientific cost.
Blending science with spiritual insight, a compassionate approach to pet care utilizes the “happiness protocol”—centered on listening, trust, and connection—to enhance animal well-being and foster deeper human awareness.
A thought experiment tells us a lot about man’s best friend—and ourselves.
Wilde the oscar fish spent 12 agonizing years in a tiny, toxic tank at a car dealership—a cruel fate shared by countless tropical fish sold as “decorations.”
Lands vital for climate resilience and the forestry industry are also critical habitats for declining bird species, offering a rare opportunity to align conservation with ecosystem services and secure a resilient future for both birds and people.
The least humane way of culling poultry and pigs has become increasingly common.
Photographs, storytelling, poetry, and well-documented research unveil the immense suffering, ecological devastation, worker exploitation, and economic injustice caused by the animal agricultural industry.
Inside the cruel pork industry, mother pigs are confined to tiny metal crates, repeatedly impregnated, and stripped of their piglets—all to meet demand for cheap meat.
The majestic elephant, while beloved by the public, faces danger and adversity in both captivity and the wild.
Ringling Bros. has stopped using animals, but hundreds of elephants still languish at circuses and zoos.
As marijuana use grows, accidental intoxication in animals is becoming more common, raising questions about safety, regulation, and the need for better research.
Lab-grown meat is a sustainable and ethical alternative to traditional meat. It offers the same taste and texture while reducing animal suffering, environmental impact, and health risks.
Free-roaming cats are an invasive species and one of the most significant sources of human-caused bird mortality.
Experimenting on monkeys is cruel—and keeping them is a threat to public health.
Eating animal products is analogous to the oppressive and unjust actions by powerful humans upon other humans.
Nineteenth-century activists revolutionized attitudes toward nonhuman animals amid cultural, economic, and moral shifts in a rapidly changing nation.
Houston’s Pet Care Co-op empowers humans and helps animals survive.
By Damon Orion
Despite centuries of domestication, the call of the wild has always been in the chicken’s heart.
Seventy-five percent of new or emerging diseases that harm humans start in non-human animals.
It is possible to ‘grow’ leather without raising and killing animals.
Unchecked human activity is clearing the skies of flying animals and insects.
How to build a relationship with a hawk—and learn about nature, life, and love in the process.
With a food industry flooded with “humanewashing,” it can be difficult to separate truth from fiction. This guide will help you make more informed food purchases.
The immense suffering endured by factory farmed chickens is grossly inhumane. We must treat them better.
Factory farming has made us think of chickens as mindless automata. But our downy friends know much more than we give them credit for.
Chickens are among the most abused animals in the world.
Naturalist Sy Montgomery highlights evolutionary and behavioral similarities across species, emphasizing the scientific basis for reconsidering human–animal relationships.
The U.S. government provides significant subsidies and regulatory support to the dairy industry, influencing consumer behavior, public health, and environmental outcomes, while plant-based alternatives grow in popularity.
To achieve justice for all species and the environment, we must create a more relational world.
