It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 4-1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 4-1 entitled "Cruelty to Animals" is hereby amended to read as follows:

{ADD 4-1-2. Overwork, mistreatment, or failure to feed animals -- "Shelter" defined. -- ADD} {ADD (A) ADD} Whoever shall overdrive, overload, drive when overloaded, overwork, torture, torment, deprive of necessary sustenance, cruelly beat, mutilate or cruelly kill, or cause or procure to be so overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance, cruelly beaten, mutilated or cruelly killed, any animal, and whoever, having the charge or custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, shall inflict cruelty upon that animal, or shall willfully fail to provide that animal with proper food, drink, shelter or protection from the weather, shall, for every such offense, be imprisoned not exceeding eleven (11) months, or be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00), or be both imprisoned and fined as aforesaid.

{ADD (B) Every owner, possessor or person having charge of any animal may upon conviction of a violation of this section be ordered to forfeit all rights to ownership of the animal to the animal control officer of the city or town in which the offense occurred or to a humane society which owns and operates the shelter which provided the subject animal shelter subsequent to any confiscation of said animal pursuant to this section. ADD}

{ADD (C) ADD} "Shelters", as used in this chapter shall mean a structure used to house any animal, and which will provide sufficient protection from inclement elements for the health and well-being of the animal.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.