2007 State Animal Protection Laws RankingsTM
November 13th, 2007The Animal Legal Defense Fund announces the release of its second annual report ranking every state and the District of Columbia on the relative strength and general comprehensiveness of their animal protection laws. This report, the only one of its kind in the nation, is based on a detailed comparative analysis of the animal protection laws of each jurisdiction, researching fourteen distinct categories of provisions throughout more than 2,800 pages of statutes. The ranking groups states into a top, middle or bottom tier, and includes a listing of the best five and worst five states.
"We saw some significant gains by a number of states this year. However, there are still important areas for improvement in every state’s laws, even for those states currently ranked in the top tier," says Stephan Otto, Animal Legal Defense Fund's director of legislative affairs and author of the report. "It is our hope that this report will help draw attention both to the states who are leading the country with their strong animal protection laws, as well as to those states at the lower end of the rankings – states with laws that are plainly incapable of adequately protecting animals. Animals do not vote, but those who love and care about them do, so we encourage lawmakers to take notice and work on improving these vital laws."
Please contact your elected officials and encourage them to support improvements to the laws that protect animals. For additional information, see our Model Animal Protection Laws collection and Animal Protection Laws of the USA & Canada compendium.
Download the full report (PDF)
Download the state rankings map
2007 State Animal Protection Laws Rankings
Comparing Overall Strength & Comprehensiveness
| Best Five | California, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Oregon |
| Worst Five | Arkansas, Alaska, Kentucky, North Dakota, Utah |
| Top Tier | California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Vermont, Virginia |
| Middle Tier | Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina |
| Bottom Tier | Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming |
2007 State Animal Protection Laws Rankings Maps
PDF, Black & White | Download Map
PDF, Color | Download Map
JPG, Black & White, 72 dpi | Download Map
JPG, Black & White, 150 dpi | Download Map
JPG, Color, 72 dpi | Download Map
JPG, Color, 150dpi | Download Map
Annual Animal Protection Laws Rankings Reports
United
States: 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
Canada: 2008 | 2009 | 2010
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