California Ranks Best for Animal Protection; South Dakota Ranks Worst
California may be the best place to be an American pet, while South Dakota may be the worst, according to a new report.
California tops the Humane Society of the United States’ ranking of the 50 states on a wide range of protection laws dealing with pets, animal cruelty, wildlife, animal research, horses and farm animals.
The Golden State scored 45 points out of a possible 65 in the Humane Society’s ranking. California was followed by New Jersey (40 points), Illinois (39), Massachusetts (39), Colorado (38) and Maine (38).
On the other end of the scale, South Dakota holds down the bottom spot in the ranking with a score of just eight. Idaho was one notch above South Dakota with nine points, preceded by Mississippi (13), North Dakota (13), Alabama (17), Hawaii (17) and Ohio (17).
In 2009, California appeared first on the list, followed by New Jersey, Colorado, Maine and Massachusetts. In 2010, Illinois moved into third place thanks to passage of several animal protection measures.
Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota got low marks partly because they’re the only four states that don’t impose felony penalties for severe acts of animal cruelty. Alabama, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio and South Dakota are among the 11 states that lack felony penalties for cockfighting.
Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society, said: “There are some states that are adopting innovative and strong policies to protect animals, while others are lagging badly.”
The Humane Society ranking was based on 65 issues in 10 animal protection categories.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund recently issued its own list of the best and worst states for animal protection. At the top was Illinois, followed by Maine, Michigan, Oregon and California.
Kentucky was the worst state in the Animal Legal Defense Fund ranking, preceded by North Dakota, Idaho, Mississippi and Iowa.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund ranking was based on an analysis of animal protection laws in each state.
In 2009, the fund’s top five were the same as in 2010. The worst five in 2009 were Kentucky (at the bottom), preceded by North Dakota, Hawaii, Idaho and Mississippi.
Stephan Otto, the fund’s director of legislative affairs, said the 2010 report indicates that “we continue to see a wide range of disparity across the country. While many (states) continue to make positive steps forward, others unfortunately are not.”
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