It’s that festive time of year againÑtrees and lights and presents and carols and turkey . . . and the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s annual ranking of state animal protection laws. Things were unchanged at both the top and bottom of the list. The news was an early Christmas present for Illinois (ranked as the state with the best and most comprehensive animal protection laws for four consecutive years) and another embarrassing stocking crammed with coal for Kentucky (the self-proclaimed “Horse Capital of the World” finished dead last for the fifth straight year).

The ALDF staff worked through more than 4,000 pages of state statutes and then assigned a numerical ranking to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and a few other outlying jurisdictions. The rankings are based on 14 different categories, including general prohibitions, penalties and exemptions, requirements (or lack thereof) for mental health evaluations and counseling, cost recovery, forfeiture of seized animals, veterinarian reporting of suspected abuse, law enforcement policies, animal fighting, and registration for convicted offenders.

The top five states in the 2011 ranking are:

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