Join MFOA in making meaningful changes to Maine animal welfare laws.
Dear MFOA Supporter,
Each year, we write to you about important issues facing animals in Maine and the legislation needed to protect them. Each year, you, our generous donors, make it possible for us to turn advocacy into meaningful change.
As we planned our legislative priorities for the upcoming legislature, we were reminded of how much society’s understanding of animal welfare has evolved. We know more about animals’ capacity to experience pain, the signs of abuse and neglect, and the long-term consequences of practices once considered acceptable.
We also know that cruelty is not always obvious. It can happen beyond public view, be misunderstood or normalized, or go unrecognized until an animal has already suffered. Yet Maine’s laws have not always evolved alongside our growing understanding. When the law falls behind, gaps can leave harmful practices in place and animals without the protections they need. That is where we come in.
For nearly thirty years, Maine Friends of Animals has worked to bring animal cruelty and inadequate protections to light and advocate for stronger laws. In the upcoming legislative session, we will bring forward legislation to help close these gaps and strengthen protections for animals. Your donation will go towards our efforts to pass these five legislative bills in early 2027. It is an ambitious agenda and we deeply appreciate you providing us the means to do it.
- Cat declawing is one of the outdated, cruel practices that needs to be reconsidered. Once viewed as a simple solution to scratching, declawing is actually the amputation of the last bone of each toe. We now know more about the pain and lasting consequences cats can experience after this procedure, yet elective declawing remains legal in Maine. Declawing is illegal in neighboring Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
- 24 states place a mandatory responsibility upon state-licensed veterinarians to report suspected animal cruelty. Unfortunately, Maine only requires reporting if it is an aggravated animal cruelty, and only allows veterinarian professionals to report cruelty, i.e., voluntary reporting. The MFOA bill would pair mandatory reporting of all animal cruelty with immunity from civil or criminal liability, which helps alleviate the fear of being sued if the suspicion turns out to be wrong. Mandatory reporting removes the personal burden of the decision-making from the veterinarian. It turns a subjective, uncomfortable choice into a legal obligation, diminishing client response.
- Stronger safeguards are needed to prevent someone convicted of animal cruelty from acquiring or possessing animals again, helping ensure that another animal isnot placed at risk. This post-conviction possession bill amends the existing statutes from ‘may’ to ‘shall’ prohibit a defendant convicted of a class D crime from owning, possessing or having on the defendant’s premises an animal for a period of time that the court deemed to be reasonable up to, and including permanently. Moreover, penalties for violations of a possession ban will include fine increases, ownership forfeiture, stronger bans and repeat offenders will incur jail time. The third violation of the underlying ban will be charged with a Class C felony.
- For Maine’s wildlife, it is time to modernize outdated trapping regulations. According to Born Free USA, Maine is tied with Texas for the least humane trapping laws in the country. As record numbers of Mainers enroll in trapper education programs, Maine must catch up with its regional peers on basic reporting and transparency. It must also align trap check times with research showing animals in kill-type traps can suffer for hours or days. Non-target wildlife and domestic animals caught in traps also go unreported. This bill reduces unnecessary suffering while improving trapping data.
- 25 states classify bestiality as a felony offense. Sadly, Maine is not one of them. This gruesome crime still happens in Maine. It happened recently when a 50-lb. dog had to be euthanized after being horribly violated. In Maine it is only a misdemeanor. This must change.
These issues are different, but they all have something in common. When cruelty is hidden, overlooked, or falls through gaps in the law, animals are left without the protection they deserve. Together, we can make sure that cruelty is not ignored.
Animals should not have to suffer because a practice was once considered acceptable, because warning signs of abuse go unrecognized, or because outdated laws leave them vulnerable. Please make a donation today to help MFOA change that. You may use the QR code below, or click on ‘Support’ on www.mfoa.net, or mail your gift in the enclosed remittance envelope.
Thank you so much for your support and all you do for animals,
Robert Fisk, Jr.
Founder and Executive Director
