State Animal Anti-Cruelty Laws

This map contains links to the animal anti-cruelty laws for all 50 states. Each state's set of laws contains a collection of relevant cruelty laws, including dogfighting, intentional cruelty, neglect/abandonment, and bestiality. Some states may have separate chapters for livestock and non-livestock species. Typical exceptions include regulated hunting and fishing, animal husbandry and food animal production, bona fide medical research using animals, and pest extermination, among others. Anti-cruelty laws may appear in a state's penal code with other criminal laws. Because domesticated animals are considered property under the law, anti-cruelty laws may appear in sections on "crimes against property." Alternatively, the laws may be tucked into criminal chapters on "moral offenses." Some states do not place these laws in the criminal code and instead tuck them into chapters dealing with agriculture or animals.