Blog Post | 114 KY. L. J. ONLINE | February 13, 2026
Slow Strides in the Bluegrass: Kentucky’s Recent Animal Protection Legislation and the Long Road to Reform
By: Julia Wattenbarger, Staff Editor, Vol. 114
Kentucky has a regrettable history of providing inadequate protection to the animals that call the Bluegrass home. For thirteen years, the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (“ALDF”) annual report ranked the Commonwealth as the state with the weakest animal protection laws.[1] Kentucky began to see some positive change in 2019, finally earning a marginal rise in ALDF’s ranking due to new legislation that criminalized sexual assault of animals.[2] Despite notable improvements in recent years, the 2025 ALDF report underlines the continued need for reform, as Kentucky remains ranked in the bottom four states regarding the strength of animal protection laws.[3] Hence, it is imperative that lawmakers enact more comprehensive animal welfare legislation.
Since taking the first step to increasing protections with the addition of the abovementioned statute prohibiting sexual crimes against animals,[4] Kentucky has continued to make small strides over the years. The next huge win for animals and their advocates was a 2020 Act allowing veterinarians to report illegal animal abuse of their patients.[5] Before 2020, veterinarians were unable to release any information about the animals they see as patients or their owners without a waiver from the client or a judicial order, with no exception for animal abuse.[6] While it is fortunate that Kentucky now permits veterinarians to report known abuse, all this means practically is they are no longer prohibited from reporting, as there is still no requirement to do so.[7]
Additionally, a bill called “Ethan’s Law” was passed in 2024, increasing the punishment for those convicted of torturing a dog or cat.[8] Named after Ethan, a Presa Canario who survived severe neglect, the bill was enacted thanks to the dedication and testimony of his owner.[9] Ethan’s Law is significant because it makes torture of a dog or cat a Class D felony every time an act of torture is committed, whereas before, the first offense was only a Class A misdemeanor.[10] The law also expanded the definition of “torture.”[11] No longer restricted to being “motivated by an intent to increase or prolong the pain of an animal,” “torture” now includes instances when “wanton disregard” causes the pain or injury.[12] Specifically, this allows for a torture charge when injury is caused by “restraint,” whether that be physical restraints, abandonment inside an enclosed space, or intentional injury causing immobility.[13] In the words of Ethan’s owner, “[t]his was a major victory for dogs and cats in Kentucky.”[14]
The post-2018 work of the legislature to protect Kentucky’s animals is not to be downplayed, as these changes were substantial. Even so, the journey to fill remaining gaps in the law is far from over. Ethan’s Law only amended the statute pertaining to torture of dogs or cats,[15] who still lack many of the protections they would be afforded in a different state.[16]
In contrast to the states that the ALDF’s 2025 report ranked as having the strongest animal protection laws,[17] Kentucky does not outline clear standards of minimum care for animals, thus failing to require provision of necessities such as adequate shelter.[18] Further, Kentucky does not have a law concerning animals left unattended in a parked car, while thirty-two states and D.C. do have laws addressing the issue.[19] Nor does the Commonwealth have a law limiting an owner’s ability to “tether” dogs, meaning to “tie[] a dog with a rope or line to a stationary object.”[20] That is, of course, unless or until “extreme physical pain, serious physical injury or infirmity, or death results from restraint of the dog or cat,”[21] which would, at minimum, now qualify as torture under Ethan’s Law.[22]
Other animals have even less protection in Kentucky than what is afforded to dogs and cats.[23] An “animal” is defined as including “every warm-blooded living creature except a human being,”[24] categorically excluding any cold-blooded animal from protection.[25] Additionally, while dog fighting and torture of a dog or cat qualify as a Class D felony,[26] other animal cruelty––including equine offenses––remains a Class A misdemeanor.[27] Considering that the Commonwealth is known as the “Horse Capital of the World,”[28] home to over two hundred thousand horses (the sixth largest horse population of the fifty U.S. states),[29] the largest producer of Thoroughbreds in the U.S.,[30] and boasts significant economic contributions brought in through the industry,[31] it is concerning that such a large percentage of Kentucky’s animal population are left with insufficient protections.
While the Bluegrass has made considerable improvements to its animal protection laws in recent years, it is essential for the welfare of the animals living in our Commonwealth that the legislature continues to close the large gaps that exist, because Kentucky’s animals deserve more than the bare minimum.
[1] Animal Legal Defense Fund, Kentucky No Longer Worst for Animal Protection Laws; Mississippi Ranked Last in National Report, N. Ky. Tribune (Jan. 25, 2020), https://nkytribune.com/2020/01/kentucky-no-longer-worst-for-animal-protection-laws-mississippi-ranked-last-in-national-report.
[2] Id.
[3] Animal Legal Defense Fund, 2025 U.S. Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report 3 (20th ed. 2026).
[4] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 525.137(3) (LexisNexis 2026).
[5] 2020 Ky. Acts 1265.
[6] Id. at 1266.
[7] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 321.188 (LexisNexis 2026) (providing that “the veterinarian may make a report”) (emphasis added).
[8] HB 258 Ethan’s Law, EthanAlmighty (2026), https://ethanalmighty.com/hb-258-ethans-law.
[9] Ethan’s Story, EthanAlmighty (2026), https://ethanalmighty.com/ethan%E2%80%99s-amazing-journey.
[10] 2024 Ky. Acts 424–25.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] HB 258 Ethan’s Law, supra note 8.
[15] 2024 Ky. Acts 424–25.
[16] See Animal Legal Defense Fund, supra note 3, at 21–25, 27 (explaining that Kentucky continues to lack a clear minimum standard of care, required veterinary reporting, and civil enforcement mechanisms, all areas where protections are in place in many of the states deemed to have the best animal protection laws).
[17] Id.
[18] Id.; Gabrielle J. Fulton, Kentucky – Legal Animal Abuse or Weak Protection Laws?, 106 Ky. L.J. Online (2018), https://www.kentuckylawjournal.org/online-originals/index.php/2018/05/08/kentucky-legal-animal-abuse-or-weak-protection-laws.
[19] Maps of States That Have Laws to Protect Animals in Parked Cars, Mich. State Univ. Coll. of L. Animal Legal and Hist. Ctr. (2025), https://www.animallaw.info/content/maps-states-have-laws-protect-animals-parked-cars.
[20] Id.
[21] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 525.135(1)(a) (LexisNexis 2026).
[22] 2024 Ky. Acts 424.
[23] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 525.130 (LexisNexis 2026).
[24] Id. § 446.010(2).
[25] Animal Legal Defense Fund, supra note 3, at 27.
[26] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 525.125, 525.135 (LexisNexis 2026).
[27] Id. § 525.130.
[28] The Kentucky Derby Shines Spotlight on State’s Equine Industry, Ky. Dep’t Agric. (Feb. 21, 2024) [hereinafter Kentucky Derby], https://www.kyagr.com/ky-agnews/press-releases/2024/The-Kentucky-Derby-shines-spotlight-on-states-equine-industry.html#:~:text=Kentucky%20is%20the%20United%20States,industry%20shines%20all%20year%20long.
[29] Amy L. Grice, Business Briefs: Horse Industry Statistics Veterinarians Should Know, EquiManagement (Jan. 8, 2025), https://equimanagement.com/business-development/business-briefs/business-briefs-horse-industry-statistics-veterinarians-should-know/#:~:text=Texas%20is%20the%20state%20with,horses%2C%20and%20Kentucky%20has%20224%2C600.
[30] Kentucky Derby, supra note 28.
[31] See id.