We are 44! We are 44! There’s a reason a cheer like that never caught on. Besides the size of the foam fingers you would need, it’s nothing to brag about. The Animal Legal Defense Fund releases an annual report ranking states and territories by the strength of their animal protection laws. In 2014, I wrote an article in this space noting that Pennsylvania was ranked 41st and discussing all of the bills then pending in Harrisburg that might change that. Those bills included prohibiting tethering dogs outside in extreme weather, a bill raising offense levels and penalties for abuse of dogs and cats, a bill providing for the adoption of an animal abuser registry and the ubiquitous ban on live pigeon shoots. None of those bills saw the light of day and Pennsylvania is again at the bottom of the heap and dropping, ranking 44th, in the ALDF rankings for 2016. In recent years, we have made some progress, most notably with the 2013 passage of the Costs of Care Act, which allows animal shelters caring for victims of cruelty to seek payment from the owners of the animal prior to conviction. This law reduced the number of animal victims who had their cruelty compounded because they were forced to spend months or years in a shelter waiting for their cases to be finally decided.
Now, if the owner/defendant is unable or unwilling to provide for their care, they are deemed surrendered to the shelter and are able to be adopted out to a new home much sooner. Another positive development was the 2016 passage of a ban on ownership of animal-fighting paraphernalia, making it easier to charge and convict dog fighters and cock fighters (yes, both blood sports are alive and well in Pennsylvania). Pennsylvania also gains points because we have a statewide ban on breed specific legislation, prohibiting municipalities from banning the ownership of specific breeds of dogs. Although these laws are important steps in the right direction, as the rankings demonstrate, Pennsylvania continues to lag far behind almost all other states in protecting its animals.
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