2009 State Animal Protection Law Rankings

The Animal Legal Defense Fund announces the release of its fourth annual report ranking the animal protection laws of every state and territory of the U.S.A. based on their relative strength and general comprehensiveness. This report – the only one of its kind – encompasses more than 3,800 pages of statutes, and is based on a detailed comparative analysis of each jurisdiction in which fourteen distinct categories of animal protection laws were researched. The ranking groups each jurisdiction into a top, middle or bottom tier, and includes a listing of the best five and worst five states.

“Many states and territories are continuing to make substantial progress with their animal protection laws. Arkansas, for example, was one of the worst five states last year, but jumped up to 25th overall in the country this year, due to a host of statutory improvements. Washington, D.C. and Indiana, among others, also made significant advances. Unfortunately, there are still many places where the laws are incapable of providing the legal protections that our country’s animals need and deserve,” says Stephan Otto, Animal Legal Defense Fund's director of legislative affairs and author of the report. “Yet even in those jurisdictions that have today’s best laws, there remain many opportunities for improvement. While animals certainly do not vote, those who love and care about them do, so we encourage lawmakers throughout the country to take heed and commit to working to improve these critical laws.”

You can download a PDF of this report here

and here's a state by state map: