On Thursday, June 4 the general assembly passed legislation from Sen. Lori Urso and Rep. Matthew S. Dawson intended to protect animals from cruelty and neglect by empowering animal control officers to take immediate control of animals they find abandoned, neglected, injured or otherwise cruelly mistreated.

The bill (2026-S 2151, 2026-H 7562) would allow municipal animal control officers to lawfully take charge of and provide adequate care to any animal found abandoned, neglected, cruelly treated or in a dangerous hoarding situation. Currently, this authority is only given to law enforcement agents of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“This bill is simple and about two things, common sense and protecting defenseless animals from abandonment, abuse and neglect,” said Rep. Dawson (D-Dist. 65 - East Providence). “While the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals does fine and admirable work, these crimes happen too frequently for the Society to handle this problem on its own. And it’s common sense to empower our local animal control officers with the ability to lawfully remove animals from dangerous or abusive situations, while also being lawfully able to provide the care and assistance that the animal may need.”

The bill now goes to the governor for his consideration.

A second animal welfare bill from Senator Urso was passed by the Rhode Island Senate on June 3. The bill (2026-S 2397A) would increase the penalties for mistreatment of a licensed dog from the current minimum fine of $10 to $100, with a maximum fine of $1,000. Subsequent violations would raise the minimum fine to $250 and up to six months of imprisonment. Repeat offenders would also be required to serve 100 hours of community restitution.

“Sadly, in Pawtucket, we have seen the same individuals coming through court two or three times for these same misdeeds, somehow able to get more dogs or cats,” said Senator Urso. “In the future, I will address the issue of banning offenders from repeat adoptions.”

That bill now goes to the House, where Rep. David A. Bennett (D-Dist. 20, Warwick, Cranston) has introduced companion legislation (2026-H 7487).

“I would like to thank Senator Urso and Representative Dawson for their determination and hard work to bring about these important changes to our outdated animal welfare laws. They answered the call for Rhode Island’s animals and that’s an incredible thing,” said Devan Massie, executive director of the Friends of the Pawtucket Animal Shelter. “These bills are a huge step in the right direction. By providing harsher penalties for abusers and abusive breeders, they will deter repeat offenders who view the current penalties as barely an inconvenience, never mind a deterrence. And giving animal control officers more resources to step in and take a pup from an abusive home is a great backup plan when deterrence doesn’t work. I’m thrilled to see action being taken to bring these changes about.”