2025 -- S 0325 AS AMENDED

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LC001480

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

     RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY -- ANIMAL CARE

     Introduced By: Senators Britto, DiMario, DiPalma, Bissaillon, Sosnowski, Raptakis, and

     Date Introduced: February 21, 2025

     Referred To: Senate Environment & Agriculture

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 4-19-2 and 4-19-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 4-19 entitled

"Animal Care" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     4-19-2. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter, chapter 13 of this title, and the regulations promulgated under this

chapter:

     (1) “Adequate feed” means the provision at suitable intervals, not to exceed twenty-four

(24) hours, of a quantity of wholesome foodstuff suitable for the species and age, sufficient to

maintain a reasonable level of nutrition in each animal. The foodstuff shall be served in a sanitized

receptacle, dish, or container.

     (2) “Adequate veterinary care” means care by a licensed veterinarian sufficient to prevent

the animal from experiencing unnecessary or unjustified physical pain or suffering.

     (3) “Adequate water” means a constant access to a sufficient supply of clean, fresh, potable

water provided in a sanitary manner and provided at suitable intervals for the species to maintain

the health of the animal(s) and not to exceed twenty-four (24) hours at any interval.

     (4) “Adopt” means when an adopting party voluntarily acquires and assumes responsibility

for an animal from a releasing agency that is properly licensed or registered by the department.

     (5) “Adopting party” means any person who enters into a contract acquiring an animal from

a releasing agency that is properly licensed or registered by the department.

     (6) “Ambient temperature” means the temperature surrounding the animal.

     (7) “Animal” means any dog or cat, rabbit, rodent, nonhuman primate, bird or other warm-

blooded vertebrate, amphibian, fish, or reptile but shall not include horses, cattle, sheep, goats,

swine, and domestic fowl.

     (8) “Animal rescue” or “rescue” means an entity, without a physical brick-and-mortar

facility, that is owned, operated, or maintained by a duly incorporated humane society, animal

welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization

devoted to the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals intended for adoption.

     (9) “Animal shelter” means a brick-and-mortar facility that is used to house or contain

animals and that is owned, operated, or maintained by a duly incorporated humane society, animal

welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization

devoted to the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals.

     (10) “Breeder” means a person engaged in the propagation of purebred or crossbred dogs

and/or cats for the purpose of improving and enhancing a breed recognized and registered by the

American Kennel Club, American Field Stud Book, a registered cat breed association, or for sale

at wholesale or retail, unless otherwise exempted as a hobby breeder as defined below.

     (11) “Broker” means any third party who arranges, delivers, or otherwise facilitates transfer

of ownership of animal(s), through adoption or fostering, from one party to another, whether or not

the party receives a fee for providing that service and whether or not the party takes physical

possession of the animal(s) at any point.

     (12) “Dealer” means any person who sells, exchanges, or donates, or offers to sell,

exchange, or donate, animals to another dealer, pet shop, or research facility, or who breeds animals

for the purpose of selling or donating to another dealer or pet shop or research facility.

     (13) “Director” means the director of environmental management of the state of Rhode

Island.

     (14) “Dog officer” or “animal-control officer” means any person employed, contracted, or

appointed by the state, or any political subdivision of the state, for the purpose of aiding in the

enforcement of this chapter or any other law or ordinance relating to the licensing of dogs, cats, or

other animals; the control of dogs, cats, or other animals; or the seizure and impoundment of dogs,

cats, or other animals and includes any state or municipal peace officer, animal-control officer,

sheriff, constable, or other employee whose duties, in whole or in part, include assignments that

involve the seizure or taking into custody of any dog, cat, or other animal.

     (15) “Euthanasia” means the humane destruction of an animal accomplished by a method

that involves instantaneous unconsciousness and immediate death or by a method that involves

anesthesia, produced by an agent that causes painless loss of consciousness and death during that

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loss of consciousness.

     (16) “Guardian” shall mean a person(s) having the same rights and responsibilities of an

owner, and both terms shall be used interchangeably. A guardian shall also mean a person who

possesses, has title to or an interest in, harbors, or has control, custody, or possession of an animal

and who is responsible for an animal’s safety and well-being.

     (17) “Hobby breeder” means those persons whose regular occupation is not the breeding

and raising of dogs and cats and whose method of sale is at retail only. A hobby breeder shall not

exceed the limits set forth in § 4-25-1(4). Any person who sells at retail a number in excess of the

limits in the aforementioned section shall be considered a breeder the whelping of greater than two

(2) litters of dogs or cats, or combination of dogs and cats, in any one calendar year. Any person

who exceeds these limits will be defined as a breeder.

     (18) “Housing facility” means any room, building, or area used to contain a primary

enclosure or enclosures.

     (19) “Kennel” means a place or establishment, other than a pound or animal shelter, or

veterinary hospital that is housing animals during their treatment, where animals not owned by the

proprietor are sheltered, fed, and watered in return for a fee. This definition shall not apply to the

following:

     (i) Sheltering, feeding, and watering in return for a fee in a residential setting, of no more

than four (4) animals not owned by the proprietor, subject to any applicable municipal ordinance

that may be more restrictive;

     (ii) Any entity that sells a dog or cat.

     (20) “Licensed releasing agency” means any animal shelter, animal-rescue, pound, animal-

control officer, or broker that is required to be licensed or registered with the director pursuant to

the provisions of this chapter and is so licensed or registered.

     (21) “Neuter” means to surgically render a male dog or cat unable to reproduce.

     (22) “Person” means any individual, partnership, firm, joint stock company, corporation,

association, trust, estate, or other legal entity.

     (23) “Pet shop” means an establishment where animals are bought, sold, exchanged, or

offered for sale or exchange to the general public at retail. This shall not include an establishment

or person whose total sales are the offspring of canine or feline females maintained on their

premises and sold from those premises and does not exceed the limits set forth in § 4-25-1(4).

     (24) “Pound” or “dog pound” means a facility operated by a state, or any political

subdivision of a state, for the purpose of impounding or harboring seized, stray, homeless,

abandoned, or unwanted dogs, cats, and other animals or a facility operated for that purpose under

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a contract with any municipal corporation or incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to

animals.

     (25) “Primary enclosure” or “enclosure” means the most proximal barrier to an animal that

will have the intended purpose or effect of containment of that animal or that will effectively restrict

the liberty of the animal.

     (26) “Public auction” means any place or location where dogs or cats are sold at auction to

the highest bidder regardless of whether those dogs or cats are offered as individuals, as a group,

or by weight.

     (27) “Research facility” means any place, laboratory, or institution at which scientific tests,

investigations, or experiments involving the use of living animals are carried out, conducted, or

attempted.

     (28) “Sanitize” means to make physically clean and to remove and destroy, to a practical

minimum, agents injurious to health.

     (29) “Sexual maturity” means when a dog or cat reaches six (6) months. In all instances,

the licensed releasing agency or a licensed veterinarian will determine the age of the dog or cat.

     (30) “Spay” means to surgically render a female dog or cat unable to reproduce.

     (31) “State veterinarian” means a licensed veterinarian from the department of

environmental management.

     (32) “Trainer” means those persons who actively engage in the application of behavior

analysis using the environmental events of antecedents and consequences to modify the behavior

of an animal, either for the animal to assist in specific activities or undertake particular tasks, or for

the animal to participate effectively in contemporary domestic life, and who keep, board, or retain

possession of the animal for at least one overnight period, with the exception of those persons

engaged in these activities for dog training programs operated by government agencies and for dog

training programs operated by a not-for-profit or exempt nonprofit organization pursuant to 26

U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

     4-19-14. Chapter inapplicable.

     This chapter does not apply to a place or establishment which is operated under the

immediate supervision of a duly licensed veterinarian as a hospital where animals are harbored,

boarded and cared for incidental to the treatment, prevention, or alleviation of disease processes

during the routine practice of the profession of veterinary medicine except that, if animals are

accepted by that place, establishment or hospital for the primary purpose of boarding in return for

a fee, the place, establishment or hospital is subject to the kennel license provisions of this chapter

and the regulations relating to the license which may be promulgated by the director. This chapter

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shall not apply to any dealer or research facility during the period that the dealer or research facility

is in the possession of a valid license or registration granted by the secretary of agriculture pursuant

to 7 U.S.C. § 2131 et seq. This chapter shall not apply to breeders, nor to hobby breeders.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

     RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY -- ANIMAL CARE

***

     This act would amend the definition of “hobby breeder” to limit the sale or offering for

sale to no more than two (2) litters of dogs or cats, or a combination thereof, in a three hundred and

sixty-five (365) day period.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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