Results
Title |
Citation | Alternate Citation | Summary | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Map of State Internet-Hunting Laws | As of 2024, about 42 states have laws or regulations banning remote control and/or computer-assisted hunting of animals. Some states like Arkansas, Florida, Oregon, and Missouri implement this ban through administrative regulation. Some laws are more specific than others and ban not only the owning and operating of a shooting range for the purpose of online shooting, but also ban creating such websites. In some states, people may also be fined or given jail time for utilizing a website via the Internet which allows the online shooting of animals. | State map | ||
| Map of State Laws Allowing Domestic Violence Orders to Include Pets |
This map shows states that have enacted legislation allowing individuals to include pets in domestic violence protection orders. Typically, these laws allow a petitioner to take possession of companion animals in the home and/or prevent the respondent from harming or removing companion animals. To date (2025), 41 states have such laws as well as D.C. and Puerto Rico. Also see Domestic Violence and Pets: List of States that Include Pets in Protection Orders. |
State map | ||
| Map of States with Companion Animal (Pet) Trust Laws | As of 2022, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted pet trust laws. Minnesota was the last state and enacted its pet trust law in 2016. | State map | ||
| Map of States with Disaster Planning Laws | Over 30 states have laws or emergency operation plans that provide for the evacuation, rescue, and recovery of animals in the event of a disaster (including the District of Columbia). The inclusion of pet-related provisions in these laws and emergency operation plans occurred after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Reports suggest that people were reluctant to evacuate without pets and/or service animals, and little planning was implemented on the transportation and sheltering of pets. Pets were also impounded in shelters and often never reunited with their owners. In 2006, the federal Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act (42 U.S.C.A. § 5196a-d (2006)) was passed. PETS directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to develop emergency preparedness plans and ensure that state and local emergency plans that consider the needs of individuals with pets and service animals during a major disaster or emergency. Many state laws require that animals be sheltered and evacuated during an emergency. While these plans differ from state to state, most address several key elements, which include the care of companion animals, the implementation of state animal response teams, the sheltering of animals, and identification of recovered animals. | State map | ||
| Map of States with Laws on Fraudulent Assistance Animals | This map covers states with laws on fraudulent assistance animals in housing. These laws establish a procedure for requesting an emotional support animal or other assistance animal in housing for a person with a disability and also establish a penalty for fraudulently claiming an assistance animal. As of 2025, only nineteen (19) states have such laws. Some of these laws target health practitioners who provide false documentation to support an assistance animal request. This laws are different from laws that penalize individuals for falsely presenting their pets as service animals in places of public accommodation (that map can be found here). | State map | ||
| Map of Veterinary Reporting Laws for Animal Cruelty | This map links to laws related to reporting of animal cruelty by veterinarians (note that other animal care professionals and government employees may also have duties to report suspected cruelty). As of 2025, all U.S. states allow reporting of suspected abuse. Some have laws that either mandate or allow reporting (permissive reporting) of suspected animal cruelty by veterinary professionals. Others have standalone laws that provide immunity for reporting of suspected cruelty, and a few have no laws at all. In most states with a mandatory or voluntary reporting law, a companion immunity provision is also provided. Such an immunity statute protects a veterinarian from any civil liability (and sometimes criminal) arising from the reporting of the abuse. About 24 states have MANDATORY reporting by veterinarians or veterinary professionals (note that some states are mandatory only for animal fighting or aggravated cruelty and Pennsylvania's regulation only applies to reporting abuse by other licensed veterinarians). Mandatory reporting can come in the form of a law or can be from a veterinary board rule that makes not reporting "unprofessional conduct." Approximately 6 states have NO LAWS/REGULATIONS that deal with veterinary reporting of cruelty or immunity for reporting suspected cruelty. | State map | ||
| Maps of States that have Laws to Protect Animals in Parked Cars |
Thirty-two (32) states and the District of Columbia have laws that concern companion animals left unattended in parked vehicles under dangerous conditions as of 2025. In some states, leaving an animal in an unattended vehicle under dangerous conditions is a crime. Many states also give immunity to law enforcement or other first responders who forcibly enter vehicles to rescue animals. Recently, several states (AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IN, KS, LA, MA, OH, OR, TN, VT, and WI) enacted laws giving civil immunity to any individuals who break-in to vehicles to remove pets (or vulnerable persons like children or incapacitated individuals) in imminent danger, provided they meet other conditions under these laws. To view these laws, click on the teal states. For more detailed information on these laws, please visit our comparative table on the topic. |
State map | ||
| Maps of U.S. Laws | The following links provide access to maps on various animal law-related topics. | Basic page | ||
| Marek v. Burmester | 37 A.D.3d 668, 830 N.Y.S.2d 340, 2007 N.Y. Slip Op. 01527 | 37 A.D.3d 668, 830 N.Y.S.2d 340, 2007 N.Y. Slip Op. 01527 |
In this New York case, a bicyclist was injured after allegedly being chased and attacked by defendant's two dogs. The plaintiff-bicyclist sued to recover damages for his injuries. The Supreme Court , Putnam County, granted a defense motion for summary judgment, and the bicyclist appealed. The Supreme Court, Appellate Division, held that a genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether defendants had constructive notice of the dogs' proclivity to chase bicyclists on the roadway and as to whether those actions put others at risk of harm. |
Case |
| MARILYN DANTON v. ST. FRANCIS 24 HOUR ANIMAL HOSPITAL, P.C. a Washington professional services corporation (UBI 602-029-072); an |
This document contains the court's instructions to the jury in the Danton v. St. Francis case that concerned the escape of a companion animal (cat) from defendant animal hospital. The cat was being boarded at the hospital at the time it escaped. |
Pleading |