skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Maine Ranked Among Top 3 States for Animals

play audio
Play

Friday, January 8, 2016   

AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine scores among the best states in the nation for animals in a new report that ranks protection laws in all 50 states.

Lora Dunn, a staff attorney in the Animal Legal Defense Fund's criminal justice program, is co-author of the report. It compares the overall strength and comprehensiveness of each state's animal-protection laws. She said Maine ranks third best in the nation.

"Maine allows protective orders in domestic-violence cases to include animals," she said, "which is really so crucial for both the human and animal victims in those situations to get out of the situation of abuse."

All 50 states have felony provisions for animal fighting, and now eight states make fighting a RICO offense. Dunn said Maine could improve protection of animals if it adopted a federal racketeering charge for animal fighting.

Dunn said Maine is ahead of many states in terms of what the state requires of local veterinarians when they see evidence of abuse.

"And finally in Maine," she said, "it is actually mandatory for veterinarians to report any suspected animal cruelty to law enforcement."

Dunn said there is a proven link between people who abuse animals and those who abuse people. She said domestic-violence offenders often manipulate human victims by threatening harm to their animals.

The report, "2015 U.S. Animal Protection Law Rankings," was produced by the Animal Defense League and is available at the league's website, aldf.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021