Animal Cruelty

UPDATE: We are excited to share that after months of medical care, 50 dogs rescued from a puppy mill in Mio, Michigan, in December are ready to find loving homes. The ASPCA rescued the dogs alongside the Oscoda County Sheriff’s Department following complaints of abuse and neglect at the facility, and the owners of the puppy mill pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges last week.

To help ring in the New Year, we’re bringing you the Happy Tail of Sara, a sweet senior cat whose journey to a permanent home took more than seven years. We hope that her story will inspire others to open their home to an animal in need in 2016. Here’s Sara’s Happy Tail.

At the ASPCA, we know that 2016 will be a great year—after all, it’s our 150^th anniversary. But before we start celebrating a century-and-a-half of amazing work on behalf of abused, abandoned and neglected animals, we want to take a look back at some of the milestones we reached in 2015. Here’s a look at some of the animals rescued, homes created and lives saved in this banner year.

2015 brought the issue of farm animal welfare to the forefront in new ways, with companies, celebrities and a groundswell of concerned citizens vocally denouncing cruel but common practices on factory farms. Legislative initiatives, exposés and media stories also drew clear connections between inhumane factory farming practices and food safety lapses, human rights violations and climate change. The calls for a more compassionate food system are growing louder, and they are coming from all corners of society.