Earlier this year, Maine Friends of Animals submitted legislation to end the transportation of horses from and through Maine to slaughterhouses in Quebec. Horse slaughter is not allowed in the US. Unfortunately, the bill had to be tabled after heavy lobbying by the Maine Harness Horsemen's Association, the Farm Bureau and State House Republican leadership.

In our research on the growing number of unwanted horses in Maine and those being sent to slaughter in Canada, we discovered, aided by some harness racing insiders, some well-kept secret realities about the lives of harness-racing horses in Maine. Few of them spend bucolic lives frolicking in the fields, as the harness racing industry would have you believe.

MFOA bill protecting animals in unattended vehicles passes!

Great news! LD 850, "An Act To Improve the Protection of Animals," has passed as amended by the legislature and signed by the Governor.  Just in time for summer!  

This bill offers better protection for animals in distress left in enclosed vehicles  - especially important this time of year.

Now, in addition to animal control officers, police officers and humane agents, other "peace officers" such as first responders, fire fighters and licensed security guards, will also be able to remove a distressed animal from a motor vehicle. This is an important step forward as often animal control officers cover more than one town or only work part time, resulting in delayed response time that can be deadly for a dog (or any animal) locked in a hot vehicle.

This legislative session MFOA sponsored LR 674 (HP 1134), a Joint Resolution calling on the Canadian Government to end their sanctioning of the annual seal pup slaughter.

MFOA proposed this resolution once before - in the 124th legislature - but it did not make it out of the Legislative Council (leadership of both parties and chambers) to be voted on by the full legislature.

This legislative session we again filed the resolution and are pleased to report that LR 674 (HP 1134) has been ADOPTED!