With just a month left in the Obama presidency, animal advocates are hopeful he’ll finalize a long-needed rule to prevent the pointless torment of Tennessee walking horses. USA Today’s got the details.

As we prepare for the upcoming transfer of political power, the nation’s certainly divided in many ways, but animal welfare remains a fairly non-partisan issue. In fact, the conservativeNational Review this week featured a potent new piece by George W. Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully in which he argues that “one of the big stories that posterity will probably notice more than our political press does at the moment is the worldwide advance of the animal-protection movement in the early 21st century.”

A lot of that advancement’s been happening for egg-laying hens recently, though some big announcements this week for broiler chickens (those raised for meat) indicate that 2017’s gonna be a big year for them.

Finally, if you want a cool fact to regale all your friends with at your holiday parties, ask them if they knew rats’ ears turn pink when they’re happy! Who knew?

Paul Shapiro
Vice President of Policy
The Humane Society of the United States
Follow at twitter.com/pshapiro

P.S. Video of the week: What happens when you let two pit bulls at each other?

P.P.S. If you’re a Seinfeld fan, Happy Festivus! May all your grievances be aired. Here’s one of mine.

Love Goodly has a bi-monthly vegan subscription box and they sent us their December/January box to review! This box was curated by the one and only Emily Deschanel and benefits Farm Sanctuary!

What I love about this box is that 1. it benefits great cruelty-free causes, 2. it’s mostly full-size products and 3. SNACKS! I like beauty box subscriptions but beauty products PLUS snacks? What more do I need?!?! 

Another cool thing about Love Goodly boxes are that you can customize some of the products. Like this one came with a Pacifica Enlightened Lip Gloss, and if you were a member you were able to go online and choose which you wanted from three different colors. That is nice! 

If you need a last minute holiday prezzie, they have these New Year’s Holiday Gift boxes that will ship between Dec 27th and Jan 2nd. So you could print out a lil “coming soon” prezzie and let your recipient know they’re getting this limited edition box. You could also give the gift of a subscription! That would be NICE! Just print out a pic of the box and be like the FIRST ONE IS COMING FEBRUARY YOU’RE WELCOME MY DUDE!

The transition of power is in full swing in DC, and some of the faces are, well, quite known to animal advocates. For example, the lead in one of the transition teams is one of the nation’s biggest defenders of puppy mills and antagonists of HSUS in particular. (BTW, did you know Donald Trump will be the first president in 150 years without a companion animal?)

Speaking of puppy mills, it’s imperative that Ohio Gov. John Kasich veto a terrible provision of a bill that hit his desk this past week. Check out more on the details and what you can do.

Finally, are you looking for holiday gifts? HSUS’s newest author, Eddie Garza, has a cookbook that just came out yesterday. Check it out!

Paul Shapiro
Vice President of Policy
The Humane Society of the United States
Follow at twitter.com/pshapiro

P.S. Video of the week: I can only hope to be invited to a holiday party as cool as this pumpkin party.

Imagine if more than 1,000 American animal advocates were killed in the past decade. That’s how many African rangers have been killed protecting wildlife in just 10 years, mostly by poachers and militias. It’s rare humans risk our lives for others, let alone when those others aren’t human. The NY Times has potent coverage this week of these real life heroes.

In (much) better news: Tyson Foods, the largest meat producer on the planet, announced this week its creation of a $150 million venture capital fund to invest in plant-based meats along with clean meats (real animal meat, slaughter-free). Other promising news: After a court hearing this week, the 9^th Circuit appears poised to uphold California’s foie gras sales ban. Stay tuned.

Finally, China’s hardly known for a positive record on animal protection, but its nascent movement is growing and slowly gaining more influence. May they move fast!

Paul Shapiro
Vice President of Policy
The Humane Society of the United States
Follow at twitter.com/pshapiro

P.S. Video of the week: When animals play too hard…

Even with all the amazing new vegan cheese options, Punk Rawk Labs is still one of my very faves. It’s creamy, flavorful, and so yum! And they have a new flavor that we love! Cashew of the Woods, paired with Shishito Gold mustard. Cashew of the Woods is “Flavored with button, crimini, and shiitake mushrooms, black and white truffles, celeriac, and white pepper.” And the mustard “has a bold, sweet taste that evokes a hint of horseradish.” It’s spicy! And they are SO GOOD together. 

As you may have guessed from the headline, I’ve got a coupon code for you: $5 off any order on the Punk Rawk Labs site for the first 50 peeps! Use code “VEGANSAURUS” in all caps. I recommend the Cashew of the Woods and the original flavor. I like all the flavors but those two are my top. Now GO! Buy all the cheeses for your holiday parties!!!