Helping those who help animals.

In addition to abusing and killing billions of animals each year, and wreaking havoc on the environment and public health of rural communities, factory farms destroy rural economies.

A federal district court in Washington issued a ruling in a lawsuit filed by The HSUS halting the transfer of millions of dollars from a federal commodity promotion program that was being diverted to finance lobbying activities by the pork industry.

Volkswagen has suspended the head of its sustainability unit, the first senior executive to be held responsible for a test program in which live monkeys were exposed to exhaust fumes from diesel vehicles to measure the health impact.

"Causing pain to dogs by inappropriate training methods is clearly completely unacceptable and I want there to be no doubt that painful or unpleasant training for dogs will not be tolerated," said Scotland's Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham.

The Federal Court in Brazil has just used evidence of animal abuse to suspend all live animal exports from the country, determining that live export does not reflect Brazil's animal protection laws or its societal values.

The BBC World Service recently featured a remarkable group of women--part of a project called Akashinga (the brave ones)--who take on trophy hunters in Zimbabwe.

Hong Kong's lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to ban the trade in ivory, in a move campaigners described as "a lifeline for elephants".

PETA is calling for an excise tax on meat to help cover the health and environmental costs that result from using animals for food.