Sunday we celebrated International Women’s Day, a time to reflect on the achievements of half of the world’s population and advocate for equal rights across genders. Though International Women’s Day wasn’t officially recognized as a holiday by the United Nations until 1977, the origin can be dated back to the American Socialist Party in February 1908. At that time, thousands of women were protesting unethical working conditions. The protests continued even into the next year, beginning a National Women’s Day in the United States.

For 11 consecutive years, Illinois has been ranked the best in the nation for its animal protection laws by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. The Animal Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1979 by a group of attorneys and is renowned for its defense of various species through the legal system, prosecuting innovative cases to end animal cruelty and broadening animal rights.

In the organization’s most recent rankings report, they rated Illinois as “top tier,” commending our state for its adequate term definitions and exceptional standards for basic care.
The U.S. Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report is considered the most dependable and longest running report of its kind. The fund assesses over 3,400 pages of statutes and ranks the states based on 19 different categories of animal protection.

What brought Illinois to number one? Policies such as: