Today's daily action for National Justice for Animals Week is: watch ALDF's "This is Who We Are" video and share it with friends.

The veterinarian told us Justin was rescued "just in time" after the Suffolk County, New York SPCA removed him from a foreclosed house in May 2010 where he was left abandoned with no food or water. Justin at the time of his rescueWeighing only 19 pounds, he was a skeleton with skin.

Today's daily action for National Justice for Animals Week is: suggest a caption for the recent photo of Justin, the week's official mascot.

Today's daily action for National Justice for Animals Week is: don't just read the news -- make it!

Lieutenant Shane Nelson has been in law enforcement in Oregon for more than 16 years. As the Administrative Lieutenant of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, Shane oversees the office's Large Animal Rescue and 23 acre Livestock Rescue & Shelter.

Joshua Crain has been an Assistant District Attorney General in McMinnville, Tennessee, since July 2005. Joshua has aggressively prosecuted several animal abuse cases, three of which have made their way into Circuit Court.

Robin Gordon served as North Dakota's State Attorney in McHenry County from 1999 to 2010. During that time Robin worked on many animal cases -- most notably a hoarding case in which 18 dogs were removed from deplorable conditions in a trailer in Deering, North Dakota.

The co-sponsor of National Justice for Animals Week 2011, Jon Cooper was elected legislator for the 18th district in Suffolk County, New York in November 1999. In October 2010, Jon sponsored a landmark bill, passed unanimously by Suffolk County lawmakers, to create the nation's first animal abuser registry.

As a State Prosecutor with the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General in Los Angeles, Tannaz Kouhpainezhad, also a professor of animal law, has a perfect record of obtaining affirmances on animal cruelty appeals.

Susan Abrams Dannelly has served as the Assistant State Attorney of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida since 1978. Susan is known as a tough prosecutor of murder and rape cases, but she has also worked hard to gain convictions in heinous animal cruelty cases.

Deschutes County Sheriff Larry Blanton has been in law enforcement in Oregon for more than 30 years. Sheriff Blanton was instrumental in creating the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office 23-acre Livestock Rescue & Shelter, a facility dedicated to caring for large animals seized in criminal cruelty cases.

Gregory Vincent was elected as Edmonson County Attorney in 1998 and continues to hold the position. Determined to win justice for the birds abused in one of the largest cockfighting operations in the Southeast, Gregory is currently aggressively prosecuting the case.

Jamie Contreras is currently Assistant Attorney General in the appellate division with the Oregon Department of Justice in Salem, Oregon. She is working on a potentially precedent-setting cruelty case appeal, in which she is arguing that the court should recognize that abused animals are indeed individual "victims."

Deputy Lindsey Evans works with the Umatilla County Sheriff's office in Pendleton, Oregon. Recently, Deputy Evans prepared a painstaking police report in a nightmarish animal neglect case. Without her diligence at the horrific crime scene, there is a good chance prosecutors could not have moved forward with criminal charges.

Suffolk County, New York Majority Leader Jon Cooper is joining the Animal Legal Defense Fund in sponsoring National Justice for Animals Week 2011, February 20 – 26.

Thank you to everyone who signed the petition and wrote letters to the Kentucky Parole Board!

On December 18th, 2010, President Obama signed the Truth in Fur Labeling Act, a landmark consumer protection law that will restrict the sale of products containing real fur if they are not accompanied by truthful labeling, no matter their cost.

Mississippi, one of the "Worst Five States" in the Animal Legal Defense Fund's latest animal protection laws rankings report, is one step closer to leaving the infamous list of the final four states currently without any felony animal cruelty penalties.

In November 2010, we reported that voters in Missouri, often infamously referred to as the "puppy mill capital of the nation," passed Proposition B -- the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act. The law is scheduled to go into effect later in 2011, but a fight has now begun to repeal or change the new law.

Kenton County, Kentucky
Case Closed

While the appellate opinion in the Kern County, California, Bemis/Trapani case is limited in scope, the underlying casework serves as an excellent example of a prosecutor's need to address three key issues in an animal hoarding prosecution.

Please help ALDF speak out for sled dogs by asking the corporate sponsors of events like the Iditarod to withdraw their support. Thanks to your efforts we've already overloaded the inboxes of the event's sponsors with thousands of emails.

This week, a shocking report from the British Columbia Worker's Compensation Board was leaked to the media: The general manager of a dog tour company filed an application for post traumatic stress disorder, after having killed 100 sled dogs on April 21 and 23, 2010, as ordered to by his employer.

Shocking report out of British Columbia leads to reward offer.

Many people are otherwise vegetarian, "except for fish" -- "pescatarian," in somewhat-common parlance. Personally, I think it's unarguably morally inconsistent to be an otherwise-ethical vegetarian and still to consume the bodies of fishes who have, there is no doubt, suffered in their deaths.

A fantastic article on OregonLive.com discusses the burgeoning field of animal law and how the Animal Legal Defense Fund is providing essential programs and services for law students.

Six students participating in a legal clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School are doing their small part to change the world.

Most of us reading this blog have always known that our companion animals mean much, much more to us than our iPod or other latest gadget, even though the initial investment to obtain either of them may have been the same. But the law has not been in lockstep with that thinking.

Recently, Animal Legal Defense Fund attorneys filed suit against the state of Texas in the case Doe v. Suehs. The suit alleges that the state has done nothing to ensure that companies that produce eggs in the state comply with a state law which, in no uncertain terms, requires egg producers to not keep hens in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, and to attend to dead, injured, and ill hens.

Several criticisms were created by the sentence imposed by Plymouth County, Massachusetts District Court Judge Beverly Cannone in the Heidi Erickson animal neglect case.

Traditionally, companion animals have been thought of as mere "property," in the same way as your iPod or similar gadget. Hence, if something "happened" to that "property," the "owner" would only be entitled to recover the fair market value or replacement value of that "property."

On the third day of trial, Judge Bob LeBlanc dismissed the case against Christopher Comins, acquitting him of all charges related to the May 2008 shooting of two Siberian husky dogs in Orange County, Florida.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund would never be able to use the law to advance the interests of animals without the support of legal professionals nationwide. In a series of spotlights, ALDF's Animal Law Program salutes the attorneys winning the case against cruelty.

Ringing in the New Year also meant the start of some new animal protection laws that took effect on January 1st. Here are a few of them.

Complementing her passion for compassion, Meena is the executive director of HEART (Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers), a non-profit public charity that is a full-service humane education provider in the New York City and Chicago areas.

ALDF grant aids sheriff's animal rescue

Authorities charged Martha Montgomery of Randolph County, North Carolina with felony and misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty after seizing three horses due to alleged neglect in December 2010.

Thanks to your support, the Animal Legal Defense Fund has pushed the U.S. legal system to end the suffering of abused animals for over 30 years.

Sixteen Temperament-Tested Dogs Saved from Kansas Dogfighting Ring in Need of Loving Homes

Michael Vick's federal sentence contains a three-year ban on the possession of a dog. Should it have been permanent? We at the Animal Legal Defense Fund certainly think so, but we have to recognize the jurisdictional limits inherent in our justice system.

In this Q&A session, attorney Scott Heiser, director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund's Criminal Justice Program, answers some questions and provides some clarification relating to the current debate about whether Michael Vick should be allowed to own a pet dog.

Help ALDF ensure that abusers are held accountable for their crimes by making a special year-end donation toward our work to protect animals.

As the holiday season quickly approaches, it is probably a good time to reflect on some important rules of thumb when it comes to our companion animals.

I don't think it ages me much to say that when I was in law school, there was no such thing as animal law, since it's still a relatively new field of study and practice.

The Truth in Fur Labeling Act, written by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), was approved by the Senate on December 7, 2010 and is now on its way to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature.

Kern County, California
Case Closed

The Animal Legal Defense Fund released its fifth annual State Animal Protection Laws report today, ranking all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories for the general comprehensiveness and relative strength of their respective animal protection laws.

Kentucky, North Dakota, Idaho, Mississippi and Iowa are the five best states in the country to be an animal abuser, according to a new report released by the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

ALDF's fifth annual report, the longest-running and most authoritative report of its kind, ranks each jurisdiction on the relative strength and comprehensiveness of their current animal protection laws.

Cal-Maine came under an international spotlight last month when an undercover investigation there revealed harrowing, clearly illegal conditions for chickens and a veritable breeding ground for human health threats.

Concerned residents of Travis County and Gonzales County, Texas, represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court in an effort to stop the horrific abuses to birds and the human health risks posed by Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. -- the nation's largest egg supplier -- at its chicken-raising and egg production facility in Waelder, Texas.

Despite heightened public awareness, puppy mills continue to plague communities across the nation.

New law makes it a crime to sell crush videos.

To learn more about a number of legal concerns that involve animal welfare - whether those issues involve pets, livestock, or even exotic animals - students at Indiana law schools have started organizations affiliated with the national Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Help protect animals from repeat abuse and bring justice to animal victims.

I was invited to become co-host of the radio show Animal Concerns of Texas (ACT). For 8 years, ACT Radio has been offering a unique program that focuses on animals and related issues such as vegetarianism and the environment.

Kristian Dennard Jackson & Decarlos Lashawn Young pled guilty today to animal killing/torturing and arson of real property.

The Senate, following the House, passed legislation on November 19th to ban the selling of videos that depict the abuse, mutilation, torture, and killing of animals.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Urges Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to Revoke Illegal Permit for "Tony" at Iberville Parish's Tiger Truck Stop

After receiving more than 100 entries in our first ever Rescue "Tails" Photo Contest, we had the enormously difficult task of selecting only five finalists. While the public could only vote for one winner to be featured on ALDF's 2010 holiday card, we couldn't help but share a few of our favorites.

Citizens Urged to Take a Stand Against Dogfighting by Attending the Hearing, Demanding Justice

Michigan: Please Attend Wayne County Court Proceeding on Wednesday Morning, November 17th

Wayne County, Michigan
Case Closed

This week ALDF filed an amicus curiae brief in Washington state's Supreme Court, arguing that the court should hear the appeal of Arnold Sather, whose dog was found to be dangerous and impounded by the City of Spokane.

On October 27th, a federal judge in Philadelphia approved a plan to allow sharpshooters to control the deer population at Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Decrepit County facility brought under fire

What should be a place of refuge for homeless animals is more like a filthy prison. That's why an outraged citizen is filing a lawsuit against Clay County, Kentucky today, taking the county to task for extreme neglect of animals at the county's shelter, neglect that violates Kentucky's Humane Shelter Law.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund has often reported on the connection between domestic violence and the connection to cruelty to animals. The word is spreading even more this month: "O" Magazine, the official magazine of Oprah Winfrey, featured a piece in its "Live Your Best Life" section entitled, "Shelter from the Storm."

Arizona voters rejected Proposition 109 in an effort to protect wildlife, while in Missouri, voters passed Proposition B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act.

Donate before November 30th and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar!

Cailen LaBarge of Suffolk Law School discusses the mainstream's vast misconception of animal law and its place in out society.

Were you ever that passionate? Were you ever that hopeful?

On October 16-17, hundreds of law students, legal professionals, academics, and interested members of the public convened at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon for the 2010 Animal Law Conference: Animals in Crisis: Using the Laws We Have, Getting the Laws We Need.

Turkish animal rights activists are seeking to criminalize the abuse of animals after collecting a record number of signatures for a petition campaign.

Prop B will ask voters whether to enact a new set of laws that would greatly expand regulations on dog breeders.

The law regarding animal treatment just got a whole lot stricter in Manitoba, Canada. The Animal Care Amendment Act took effect September 20th, doubling-up jail time and fines for offenders, and adding the severe penalty that a person convicted of an offense could be restricted from owning or caring for animals for life.

Last week, we shared the exciting news about the first-ever animal abuser registry being enacted. It wasn't just the first such registry in the U.S.A, but quite likely the first one in the world.

The University of Otago Student Animal Legal Defense Fund hosted New Zealand's first-ever Animal Law Week, August 9-13, 2010.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Advancement of Animal Law Scholarships are available to second and third year law student members of our student chapters and will be awarded based upon demonstrated commitment to ALDF's mission.

The Associated Press on September 16th reported that a man accused of dragging a "stubborn" horse alongside his truck has become the first person convicted by a Puerto Rico jury under an animal protection law enacted after dogs were thrown to their deaths from a bridge.

The Suffolk County Legislature unanimously approved a bill Tuesday, October 12th, to create a law establishing a county registry for animal abuse offenders. Suffolk County is home to 1.5 million human residents and an untold number of animal residents.

1.5 Million New Yorkers and their Animals Will Have More Protection from Repeat Offenders

A wave of loud cheers and clapping erupting inside El Paso City Hall on Tuesday, October 5, as El Paso, Texas joined the growing list of cities across the U.S. that have committed to reducing pet euthanasia rates and animal cruelty by regulating local pet stores.

Nation's first animal abuser registry could be just around the corner.

Please contact Senator Wayne Kuipers (Chair) and the other Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to pass HB 5655, 5656 & 5668. These three bills would give law enforcement new legal tools to help combat the growing scourge of animal fighting.

This November, Missouri voters will have the opportunity to change the state's reputation as being the "puppy mill capital of the United States."

Despite the public's concern over wild horse roundups, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to blaze forward with roundups across the western United States. Tragically, these roundups often result in the death of or injury to the horses they are said to protect.

Last night, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to pass the language of S. 3841 through a substitute amendment to H.R. 5566 which will ban the sale of animal crush videos.

It's time for the U.S. Senate to act on anti-crush legislation. Contact your Senators today and ask them to support S. 3841!

ALDF Honoring the State for Its Progressive Legislation at Chicago Reception

Contact your United States Representative today and ask him or her to help end the abusive practice of transporting horses by double-decker trailers and to stop the slaughter of horses for human consumption by supporting H.R. 305 and H.R. 503.

Animal welfare related claims on egg cartons are almost entirely unregulated in the U.S., rendering the labeling landscape nearly meaningless.

Proposed Regulations Would Require Truthful Disclosure

European Union passes "Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes" law, providing for better lab animal welfare

If you are planning to attend the 18th Annual Animal Law Conference at Lewis & Clark Law School, time is of the essence! Only 50 spots remain for this popular conference which has a history of selling out early.

New Jersey is considering S539, a state law that would strengthen the penalties associated with the crime of dogfighting and enable prosecutors to charge dogfighting ringleaders under New Jersey's RICO ("Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations") statute.

By passing SB 1345, the California legislature is allowing the import into the Golden State of kangaroo products for five more years, so that companies such as Adidas can legally sell soccer shoes made from kangaroos.

On August 31, 2010, the California Assembly voted to defeat SB 250, the "Pet Responsibility Act," ending longstanding efforts to pass the law, at least for the rest of this legislative session.