March is social work month and Kentucky later said thank you to social workers past, present and future today at the Capitol.

Among those giving the accolades, State Representative Lindsay Burk of Lexington, who started out as a social worker.

She said it's time Kentucky provides more help to the people who dedicate their lives to helping others.

I have a bill that would allow social workers to access workers comp.

If you experience things in your job that are so overwhelming that you really need to take care of yourself for a while.

Because when when you give and give and give and give of yourself and you're exposed to the many forms of trauma that your clients are experiencing, that vicarious trauma can be heavy and you are not compensated well enough yet for that to be an equal balance and so I want you to have the assurance that you can take time off of work to take care of yourself so you can come back and continue in these battles that are so worthy and so deserving.

And you are already doing that good work.

I just want to make it so that you can do it as long as you want to.

Also at the rally, Ethan Almighty, a dog rescued from an abusive home who's become a symbol in the fight against animal cruelty.

His current owner says if someone is willing to abuse an animal, they're also prone to abusing a person.

Lawmakers are considering Ethan's law, House Bill 258, which would make it a felony to torture a dog or a cat.