New York City skyline at sunset, representing the political and electoral systems discussed in this article.

When a Vegan Seat Isn’t a Vegan Seat

When a New York Assembly seat opened unexpectedly, the outcome was settled long before voters had a say. The loss of the state’s only vegan legislator reveals how special election rules and party-controlled processes can quietly erase ethical representation — even in districts that once elected it.

Holiday Consumerism vs. Planetary Reality: Why Ethical Gifting Matters More Than Ever

Mid-December marks the peak of America’s most waste-intensive season — a surge in trash, factory-farming output, and environmental harm often hidden behind holiday cheer. Ethical gifting offers a way to resist the cycle and align the season with compassion, sustainability, and planetary reality.

2025 Animal Year in Review: Policy Shifts, Global Labels, and Rising Scrutiny of Exploitation

From global food labels to wild-horse roundups, 2025 pushed animal issues into the center of climate, policy, and public-health debates. New transparency laws, plant-based investment, companion-animal protections, and growing scrutiny of industrial livestock marked a year in which governments could no longer ignore the ethical and environmental costs of animal exploitation.

Rethinking Pearl Harbor Through a Humane Lens

On December 7, America remembers Pearl Harbor—but remembrance means more than ritual. The Humane Herald examines the war’s true cost: human suffering, environmental devastation, emergency powers, and the birth of a militarized state. To honor history, we must confront the systems that make war inevitable—and choose a humane alternative.

Democrats’ Appropriation of the Name “Abolition Amendment” Is Misleading and Problematic

Democrats’ recent attempt to brand their proposal as the “Abolition Amendment” obscures the term’s established meaning and appropriates language created by the Humane Party years earlier. While removing the 13th Amendment’s punishment clause is necessary, it is not abolition — not when the slavery of non-human beings remains fully intact. By co-opting a name that already denotes the complete end of slavery for all creatures, the proposal risks misleading the public and diluting a central pillar of the animal rights movement.

Lancaster Farm Sanctuary

Lancaster Farm Sanctuary is reshaping what sanctuary work means inside one of Pennsylvania’s most agriculturally entrenched counties. In this in-depth conversation, the LFS team reflects on their origins, the daily rituals that center animal agency, the emotional weight of rescue work, and the communities that make their mission possible. From piglets teaching elders how to play to ponies who insist on freedom during their evening return, every story underscores the same truth: when animals are given safety, autonomy, and respect, they reveal who they have always been. This interview offers a rare, honest look at the joys and struggles of sanctuary life—and what compassion can build when a community chooses to care.

When Compassion Is Criminalized

Animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg faces a 90-day jail sentence — and potentially life-threatening medical neglect — for saving four suffering chickens from a Perdue slaughterhouse. Her case exposes a deeper crisis in California: the criminalization of compassion and the protection of corporate cruelty at any cost.

Cheetahs, Conservation, and the Politics of “Charismatic” Wildlife

On World Wildlife Conservation Day and International Cheetah Day, The Humane Herald examines the crisis facing cheetahs and the global systems driving wildlife decline. Beyond charismatic species, true conservation demands dismantling the industries and worldviews that treat animals as resources rather than beings with rights.

When Cruelty Becomes a Credential: What the Kristi Noem Puppy Story Reveals About American Political Culture

A leader who kills a puppy and then proudly markets the story is not an anomaly — she is a symptom of a political culture that confuses cruelty with strength. The Kristi Noem scandal is not about a single dog; it is a mirror held up to America’s comfort with harm, hierarchy, and disposability.

Black Friday Without Buying: The Rise of the Consumer Blackout Movement

A growing movement is calling for a full consumer blackout over Black Friday weekend—urging people to skip the sales and resist the hyper-capitalist pressure to buy. The blackout shines a light on exploitative labor, environmental damage, psychological manipulation, and the animal suffering embedded in the holiday retail spike. Through the Humane Party lens, it’s an act of ethical realism: choosing not to feed a system built on harm.

Why We Write: A Note on Timing, Purpose, and Our Commitment to the Record

As an all-volunteer publication, The Humane Herald isn’t always able to publish at the pace of the daily news cycle—but we remain committed to documenting the stories that matter. Our goal is to preserve truth, provide context, and give voice to the voiceless, even when the world has already moved on.

The Quiet Revolution or a Quiet Trap?

The FDA’s expanded approval of cultivated meat marks a major shift in U.S. food policy. But beneath the promise of slaughter-free protein lies a harder ethical question: Are we truly ending our exploitation of animals, or simply modernizing it? A technology that begins with the taking of another being’s cells cannot deliver liberation. It can only deliver a cleaner mirror for our existing beliefs.

Rows of dairy cows connected to milking machines in an industrial facility — showing how language like “processing” hides the reality of exploitation.

Deconstructing Dominance: The Language of Oppression from Barn to Boardroom

Words shape how we see — and who we harm. From barns to boardrooms, euphemisms like “processing” and “human capital” make cruelty sound routine. The Humane Party calls for truth in language, reminding us that liberation begins with the courage to speak honestly.

Eyes in the Slaughterhouse: Why Transparency Terrifies the Industry

UnchainedTV’s call for mandatory cameras inside slaughterhouses has reignited a national debate on transparency, ethics, and power. While mainstream “humane” groups stay silent, the Humane Party argues that true oversight isn’t reform — it’s revelation.