Massachusetts Ranks Fourth in Protecting Animals

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — We know Berkshirites love their dogs so it's not surprising Massachusetts does right by animals.

The Humane Society of the United States has ranked Massachusetts No. 4, tied with Illinios, on how it treats animals.

"Massachusetts has a proud history of animal protection. The commonwealth was the first state in America to pass animal cruelty legislation. We hope that the current state legislature will continue to lead the nation when it comes to animal protection by joining the eight other states that passed farm animal welfare reforms in recent years," said Alexis Fox, Massachusetts state director for the Humane Society of the United States.

The MSPCA, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was founded in 1868.

The third annual Humane State Rankings rated all 50 states and Washington, D.C., on a wide range of animal protection laws, including animal cruelty codes, equine protection standards, wildlife issues, animals in research and farm animal policy.

Earning the highest scores were California in first and New Jersey and Oregon tied for second place. South Dakota was last with score of 8 out of a possible 66 with Idaho in 50th. Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota received especially low marks in part because they are the only three states in the country with no felony penalty for egregious acts of animal cruelty.

To see the complete 2011 Humane State Rankings, click here.

Tags: domestic animals,   pets,   

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Pittsfield Community Development OKs Airport Project, Cannabis Amendment

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Development Board has supported plans for a new hangar at the airport and a change to the cannabis ordinance.

Lyon Aviation, located in the Pittsfield Municipal Airport, plans to remove an existing "T" style hangar and replace it with a new, 22,000-square-foot hangar.  The existing one is said to be small and in poor condition while the new build will accommodate a variety of plane sizes including a larger passenger jet.

"There's no traffic impacts, there's no utilities to speak of," Robert Fournier of SK Design Group explained.

"I'll say that we did review this at length with the airport commission in the city council and this is the way we were instructed to proceed was filing this site plan review and special permit application."

The application states that the need for additional hangar space is "well documented" by Lyon, Airport Manager Daniel Shearer, and the airport's 2020 master plan. The plan predicts that 15 additional hangar spaces will be needed by 2039 and this project can accommodate up to 10 smaller planes or a single large aircraft.

Lyon Aviation was founded in 1982 as a fuel-based operator that provided fuel, maintenance, hangar services, charter, and flight instruction.

This is not the only project at the Tamarack Road airport, as the City Council recently approved a $300,000 borrowing for the construction of a new taxi lane. This will cover the costs of an engineering phase and will be reduced by federal and state grant monies that have been awarded to the airport.

The local share required is $15,000, with 95 percent covered by the Federal Aviation Administration.

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