Does Maine have a cultural issue when it comes to animal protection and animal cruelty?

A two-day series by staff writers Susan M. Cover and Meghan Malloy, which ends today, doesn't go that far, but it does show that Maine citizens have room to improve when it comes to caring for their animals.

High-profile cases of animal hoarding and deaths in New Portland, Greene and Bingham this year prove that animal cruelty does, in fact, occur in Maine.

This week's Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel series, our latest of several journalistic efforts on this topic, also found that Maine has a low rate of licensing animals and that "backyard breeders" are finding new and creative ways to skirt Maine's tough animal-protection laws and licensing requirements.

What can be done about this?

Maine already receives high marks for its laws on animal protection. The Animal Legal Defense Fund recently ranked Maine second in the nation for its laws regarding animals, in large part because a felony crime category does exist for the more serious abusers.

Norma Worley, director of the state Animal Welfare Program, also notes that enforcement is up. The state seized 50 animals in 2003, Worley said, but more than 300 this year, which may or may not be a good sign for us culturally.

One area for lawmakers to examine is Maine's town-by-town approach to animal control. The state does employ animal-welfare agents in Worley's office, but animal control also is enforced at the municipal level. In many communities, this task is left to part-time employees, some of whom lack the proper training for what is a difficult and can be a dangerous job.

Maine animal owners, among others, also have to look in their mirrors. The state estimates that 60 percent of dog owners in the state do not license their animals. That, in turn, hurts enforcement programs and weakens state and local efforts to protect animals from cruelty by underfunding them.

Local leaders also can do more. Some communities are sticklers about making sure their residents buy and renew licenses for their animals. Others are less concerned about it.

Add it up, and Maine residents can and should do better when it comes to how we breed, raise, own and care for our animals.