Title 4, Title 4 and Animal Husbandry

After the seizure of any birds or animals as provided in § 4-1-12, application shall be made to a district court or the superior court for a sentence of forfeiture of the birds or animals; and if, upon the hearing of the application, it is found that the birds or animals, at the …

Any claimant aggrieved by a sentence of forfeiture of a district court may, before the execution of that sentence, appeal to the superior court in the manner provided with reference to criminal appeals from district courts.

The necessary expenses incurred in the care and disposing of seized birds or animals may be allowed and paid in the same manner that costs in criminal prosecutions are paid.

Any person who keeps or uses any live pigeon, fowl, or other bird for the purpose of a target or to be shot at, either for amusement or as a test of skill in marksmanship, and any person who shoots at any bird or is a party to any shooting of any fowl or bird and any person who r…

(a) No railroad company, in the transportation of animals, shall permit those animals to be confined in cars, after they have been confined twenty-eight (28) consecutive hours, without unloading those animals for rest, water, and feeding for at least five (5) consecutive hours, u…

Any person violating this chapter may be arrested on view and held without a warrant; provided, that an arrest or detention without warrant shall not continue longer than twenty-four (24) hours; and the person making an arrest, with or without a warrant, shall use reasonable dili…

Whenever complaint is made on oath to any magistrate authorized to issue warrants in criminal cases, that the complainant believes and has reasonable cause to believe that the laws in relation to cruelty to animals have been or are being violated in any building or place, the mag…

(a) Whoever overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills, or causes or procures to be so overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, …

Any deputy sheriff, town constable, or police officer shall prosecute all violations of this chapter that come to his or her knowledge and all fines and forfeitures resulting from the complaint of any officer or agent of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals under …

The general agent of the Rhode Island society for the prevention of cruelty to animals and any number of special agents as may be appointed by that society have the same power and authority to arrest as any officer authorized to serve criminal process for the purpose of enforcing…

(a) An officer or agent of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals may lawfully take charge of and shall provide adequate care to any animal found abandoned or neglected or hazardously accumulated as defined in § 4-1-1, or that in the opinion of that off…

If, upon examination by a licensed graduate veterinarian of any animal taken possession of under § 4-1-22, the veterinarian certifies, in writing, to the society that the animal is so aged, maimed, disabled, lame, sick, diseased, or injured as to be unfit for any useful purpose, …

The district court has concurrent jurisdiction with the superior court, over all offenses under this chapter and to the full extent of the penalties specified. Parties defendant, however, have the same right to appeal from the sentence of a district court as is now provided by la…

The general assembly shall annually appropriate any sum it deems necessary, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended under the direction of the director of environmental management, for the purpose of preventing cruelty to animals, and the direc…

(a) If any person having possession and/or control of an animal abandons that animal on a street, road, highway, or in a public place or on private property or from a motor vehicle, or in a dwelling or any other building or structure without providing for the care of that animal,…

(a) Any Rhode Island licensed veterinarian, veterinarian technician, animal shelter, animal kennel, or other person entrusted with the care or custody of an animal shall report to any police department (local or state), animal control officials, or officers of private organizatio…

(a) The general agent of the Rhode Island society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, within his or her discretion, may sell at public auction any lost or abandoned animals and poultry. Before proceeding to sale, the general agent shall give notice to the owners of the lost…

It is unlawful for any person, as defined in § 4-1-1, to conduct any greasy pig contest within the state. Any person violating this section is subject to the provisions of § 4-1-2.

It is unlawful for any person to willfully release an animal from captivity in a park, circus, zoo or other such facility. Any person violating this section is be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

(a) Every owner, possessor, or person having the charge or custody of any animal, who cruelly drives or works that animal when unfit for labor, or cruelly abandons that animal, or who carries that animal or who fails to provide that animal with adequate living conditions as defin…

It is unlawful for any veterinarian or owner, as defined in § 4-1-1, or any agent of a veterinarian or owner, or any other person to destroy any animal by the use of a high altitude decompression chamber. When carbon monoxide is used as a euthanizing agent, only one animal is pla…

(a) No owner or person shall confine any animal in a motor vehicle that is done in a manner that places the animal in a life-threatening or extreme health-threatening situation by exposing it to a prolonged period of extreme heat or cold without proper ventilation or other protec…

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Police canine” means any canine and “police horse” means any horse that is owned or in the service of a law enforcement agency for the principal purpose of aiding in the detection of criminal activity, enforcement of laws, maintaining public orde…

(a) Examination of fighting animals. A licensed veterinarian from the department of environmental management, shall be made available to agents of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at the request of the state police for the purpose of examining any…

(a) Any person, firm, partnership, or corporation actively engaged in animal research, who actually utilizes live animals for research purposes, shall register with the department of health by filing with the department of health on forms provided by it, the full name, address an…

No person shall put to death, within the state, a racing greyhound or a retired racing greyhound except in a humane manner. For the purposes of this section, the phrase in a humane manner means by means of euthanasia by lethal injection, or by any other standard of humane killing…

No person, firm, or other business entity shall sell or otherwise transfer any greyhound or retired racing greyhound to any person, firm, or other business entity for the purpose of medical research.

Nothing contained in this chapter prohibits the owner of a greyhound from having an autopsy performed on that greyhound, nor prohibits any medical treatment necessary to maintain the health and well being of a greyhound.

Any person found guilty of violating § 4-1-34 or 4-1-34.1 shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

The general assembly hereby declares that the words “community service” which appear throughout this chapter shall now be substituted with and referred to as “community restitution”.

Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter may, in addition to any penalties imposed, be evaluated to determine the need for psychiatric or psychological counseling, and, if determined appropriate by the court, to receive psychiatric or psychologic…

Any person entrusted with the care and custody of an animal, including, but not limited to, any Rhode Island licensed veterinarian, veterinarian technician, animal shelter, or animal kennel, shall be held harmless from either criminal or civil liability arising out of any reports…

Wherever the word “owner” shall appear in this chapter it shall also mean and may be interchanged with the word “guardian” as defined in § 4-1-1.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person may not transport or shelter, or cause or allow to be transported or sheltered any equine animal in or upon any trailer, conveyance or other vehicle whatsoever with two (2) or more levels stacked on top of one another. (b) …

If any maimed, sick, infirm, or disabled animal is abandoned to die, by any owner or person having charge of that animal, that person shall, for each offense, be punished in the manner provided in § 4-1-2.

(a) In addition to any other penalty imposed by law, a person convicted of, or who entered a plea of nolo contendere to, any misdemeanor violation under the provisions of this chapter shall not possess or reside with any animal for a period of up to five (5) years following entry…

(a) No person or corporation that occupies, owns, manages, or provides services in connection with any real property, including the individual’s or corporation’s agents or successors-in-interest, may do any of the following if the person or corporation allows an animal on the sub…

(a) The director of environmental management, or any veterinarian employed by the department of environmental management (“department”), may lawfully take charge of any animal found abandoned or neglected or hazardously accumulated as defined in § 4-1-1, or that, in the opinion o…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who houses, possesses, or is in direct contact with an elephant utilized in a traveling show shall not: (1) Use a bullhook, ankus, baseball bat, axe handle, pitchfork, or similar device designed to inflict pain for the pu…

(a) For purposes of this section: (1) “Declawing” means an onychectomy or any other surgical procedure to amputate or modify a portion of a cat’s paw in order to remove the cat’s claws. “Declawing” does not include the trimming of nonviable claw husk or placing nonpermanent nail …

(a) Every person who cuts out the tongue or otherwise dismembers any animal maliciously; or maliciously kills or wounds any animal; or maliciously administers poison to or exposes any poisonous substance with intent that the poison shall be taken or swallowed by any animal; or wh…

No person shall cut, clip, or shear the hair or coating of any horse between October 15th and March 1st unless the necessity for the cutting, clipping, or shearing has been certified in writing and filed with the Rhode Island society for the prevention of cruelty to animals by a …

(a) Any person who intentionally cuts or alters the bone, tissues, muscles or tendons of the tail of any bovine or otherwise operates upon it in any manner for the purpose or with the effect of docking, setting, or otherwise altering the natural carriage of the tail, or who knowi…

Any crate or other container used for the purpose of transporting, shipping, or holding for sale any live poultry shall be in a sanitary condition and shall be constructed so as to provide sufficient ventilation and warmth and the poultry, while in that container, shall receive a…

It is unlawful for any person to dye a chick, duckling, or other live poultry, or to have in his or her possession any chick, duckling, or other live poultry which has been dyed. No person shall sell or offer for sale any live chicks or ducklings under two (2) months of age in qu…

Any person who causes or encourages the fighting of any bird, dog, or animal with any other bird, dog, or animal, or keeps or maintains any place for the fighting of birds, dogs, or animals, or who knowingly permits, or suffers, any fight to be had on the person’s premises or on …