North Dakota has been ranked as the worst US state for domestic animal protection laws in the latest annual assessment released by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF). The findings were reported by People magazine on 31st January 2026, following the publication of the 2025 U.S. State Animal Protection Laws Ranking Report.
The Rankings Report does not include certain laws (such as endangered species protections or certain hunting or trapping limits) that are broadly concerned with preserving a species and the protection of wildlife. The Rankings Report also only includes civil laws insofar as they relate to criminal animal cruelty laws.
The ALDF analysis examined the strengths and weaknesses of statutory protections for non-human animals across all 50 US states and six territories, including domestic violence protections that can cover animal companions, bans on declawing cats, and rescue laws enabling interventions when animals are left in dangerous situations. In this ranking, North Dakota was placed last, with Alabama, Idaho, Kentucky, and Mississippi also listed among the jurisdictions with the weakest protections. Oregon was again identified as the state with the strongest legal safeguards for animals, topping the list for the third consecutive year, while Massachusetts, Maine, Illinois, and Colorado completed the top five.
The report marks two decades of tracking how US jurisdictions treat domestic animals under the law, highlighting measurable progress in several legal areas since 2005. In that period, the number of states and territories explicitly allowing animals to be included in “domestic violence protection orders” has risen from none to 42 states and two territories. Over the same timeframe, those that “require or explicitly permit” veterinarians to report suspected cruelty have increased from 21 states and one territory to 44 states and two territories, and jurisdictions empowering courts to “order possession bans, prohibiting convicted offenders from owning or possessing animals” have grown from 22 states and one territory to 42 states and four territories.
The ALDF also records advances against declawing cats, a mutilating surgical practice involving the removal of part of each toe. New York became the first state to ban declawing in 2019, and now six states, plus Washington, D.C., prohibit the procedure unless needed for a “therapeutic purpose.” In the last year, new or updated laws have further enabled law enforcement officers and civilians to rescue animals trapped in hazardous situations, such as being abandoned in hot vehicles without shade, food, or water. ALDF executive director Chris Green credited sustained campaigning for the momentum behind these legal changes. Chris Green, Animal Legal Defense Fund, said, “persistent hard work of animal advocacy organizations, lawmakers, and members of the public who have worked together to help create essential protections for the animals we cherish.”
