News release: “he Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest animal protection organization, has released its first “Humane State Ranking,” a comprehensive report rating all 50 states on a wide range of animal protection laws dealing with pets, animal cruelty and fighting, wildlife, animals in research, horses, and farm animals. At the top of the list is California, which has strong laws in 45 of the 65 categories ranked: protecting pets from antifreeze poisoning and continuous chaining; prohibiting steel-jawed leghold traps, horse slaughter and mountain lion trophy hunting; and protecting farm animals from extreme confinement and tail-docking. New Jersey comes in second place, with strong laws on animal fighting, fur labeling, and alternatives to animal testing. Tied for third place are Colorado, Maine and Massachusetts.”

• To see rankings for states Alabama-Missouri, please click here.
• To see Montana-Wyoming, please click here.
• To see total scores, please click here.