A national nonprofit animal protection organization says Maine ranks third in the nation for its animal protection laws.
Kathleen Wood is an attorney with the Animal Legal Defense Fund and one of the authors of the report. She says one of the best things about Maine’s animal protection laws is the very clear language about the level of care that has to be provided.
“It’s got very specific provisions about the food, water, shelter veterinary care, even things like the sanitation of the environment that the animal lives in,” she says.
Wood says this makes it easier to determine when an animal has been neglected and when prosecution is necessary.
Wood says an area in which Maine could improve is to make forfeiture of an animal mandatory after a cruelty conviction. She says right now that’s left up to a judge.
