Animal Abuse (H 8170 as amended, S 2135A)

Just a few years ago, the General Assembly granted judges the discretional authority to bar animal abusers from owning animals for a period of years. This year, the General Assembly overwhelmingly approved deeply troubling legislation requiring judges to bar from owning animals not only anyone convicted of "unnecessary cruelty," but any other animal abuse offense. This includes offenses wherein the person did not actively seek to harm an animal, such as shearing of horses in winter, sale of dyed chicks, release of caged animals from a park or zoo, or failure to properly register with the Department of Health when using animals for research. In addition prohibiting these individuals from owning or residing with animals for up to five years, the legislation also makes the second or subsequent of any of these offenses - some of which only carry penalties of a few hundred dollars - felonies punishable by up to six years in prison. The ACLU requested a veto from Governor Raimondo, but the legislation was signed into law in July.