HSUS Names Best, Worst States for Animal Protection
December 29, 2010 by Paris Permenter and John Bigley
Filed under News
What are the best–and the worst–states in terms of animal protection laws? The Humane Society of the United States has released its annual list of “Humane State Ranking.” This report ranks states on a wide range of animal protection laws dealing with pets, animal cruelty and fighting, wildlife, animals in research, horses and farm animals.
The best rankings were:
- California
- New Jersey
- Illinois and Massachusetts (tie)
- Colorado
Illinois had improved its ranking this year due to passage of bills to prohibit the keeping of primates as pets and to protect animals from antifreeze poisoning. Other states that moved up in this year’s report were Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alaska. Oklahoma—one of the top three puppy-producing states in the country—gained major points for passing a comprehensive puppy mill bill in 2010, and also passed legislation protecting pets in domestic violence situations and for allowing the creation of pet trusts. Louisiana, which was the last state to ban cockfighting in 2006, strengthened its laws for spectators of cockfights. And Alaska gained points for making egregious acts of cruelty a felony on the first offense and for closing a loophole that allowed the possession of chimpanzees as pets.
And which states ranked worst?
- Alabama, Hawaii, Ohio (tie)
- Mississippi, North Dakota (tie)
- Idaho
- South Dakota
Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota got low marks in part because they are the only four states in the country with no felony penalty for egregious acts of animal cruelty. Alabama, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio and South Dakota are also among the 11 states that do not have felony-level penalties for cockfighting.
These rankings were based on 65 animal protection issues in 10 categories including: animal fighting; animal cruelty; puppy mills; use of animals in research; equine protection; wildlife abuse; factory farming; fur and trapping; exotic animals; and companion animal laws.
To see where your state ranked, visit the HSUS online report.
About Paris Permenter and John Bigley
DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.
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