Making A Difference Now

Second Program Service Accomplishment Education. The pandemic's ongoing impact continues with many people estimating that animal welfare has been set back at least a decade or two. And for many in the field, the general public's lack of awareness continues to be surprising and discouraging. Casual owner relinquishment of their pets, even elderly pets who have only known this family for most of their lives. Rejection of S/N. Pets abandoned to fend for themselves, most of whom suffer from confusion, terror, hunger, and thirst, and many of whom die. Pets starved to inconceivable condition. And purchasers of animals continuing this awful cycle by supporting irresponsible breeders and puppy/kitten mills, and the pet stores that support them, rather than adopting from shelters/rescues or at least ensuring they only purchase from responsible breeders. Education has always been a central element of MADN's mission. We have developed highly regarded programs we have offered in central Kentucky (Making A Difference Conferences) and in other communities (Taking it to the Towns: On the Road Workshops), as well as webinars and other online offerings. We will continue all of these. But the last year taught us that we want to explore a new focus, too: some way to reach and teach individuals who contribute to the crisis either because of low information/awareness or disregard for the consequences of their actions. We are engaging in research and collaboration to develop the specifics of this approach which we hope will measurably increase animal welfare in our state.

Third Program Service Accomplishment Advocacy. Advocacy is a slog in Kentucky, with our state ranking dead last in the Animal Legal Defense Fund's ranking for over 10 years. While no longer dead last, we have remained in the worst five states for our animal protection laws, coming in at 47th for 2024. While hard, advocating for better laws and better enforcement is essential if we are to help Kentucky's animals and people. An excellent case in point is the state statute that was passed in 2024. Dubbed Ethan's Law for the wonderful dog who captured hearts all over the state as he recovered from severe neglect, the statute allows a person to be charged with a Class D felony the first time and every time they torture a dog or cat. It is an important deterrent and it is also the first substantial upgrade to our animal protection laws in years. Bipartisan support for Ethan's Law offers hope for additional progress. Of course, passage of the law is the first step. Enforcement must back it up. In too many cases and areas of our state, enforcement has been slow to keep pace, and MADN and our many excellent advocacy partners continue to call out lax enforcement and encourage community members to make their voices heard. In addition to our advocacy partnership work in support of and opposition to state statutes and their full enforcement, MADN and our partners support local ordinances as well. Six Kentucky communities, including MADN's home community of Lexington, passed humane retail pet sales ordinances to prohibit the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores and outdoor venues. These are huge successes for our communities because pet stores that continue to sell pets, rather than work with local rescues and shelters to showcase rescued pets for adoption, contribute mightily to the pet overpopulation crisis. They support the horrors of puppy/kitten mills and often sell ill, ill-bred, under-socialized puppies and kittens at predatory pricing and lending rates. These six communities said no thanks to these business practices and the cruelty of the puppy/kitten mill-to-pet store cruelty pipeline. We fully expect more communities to join them and MADN and animal advocates throughout our state will continue to support these efforts.