---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 472, VOLUME 83 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE RELATING TO CIVIL ACTIONS FOR TORTIOUS INJURIES, INCLUDING DEATH, TO LAWFULLY OWNED PETS."
description: "In the 151st General Assembly, SS1 to SB 258 was passed, which permitted pet owners to pursue compensatory damages without limitation for veterinary bills incurred to care for a pet that was injured by the negligence, reckless, or intentional acts of another individual or that individual's pet. This act removes a sunset provision that would have these changes expire on October 14, 2025."
jurisdiction: "us/states/de"
legislature: "Delaware General Assembly"
session: "153"
identifier: "SB 118"
citation: "Delaware SB 118 (153)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brian Pettyjohn", "Daniel B. Short", "Melanie Ross Levin", "Stell Parker Selby"]
version_count: 0
action_count: 7
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-05-01"
last_action: "2025-08-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4ec760af-21e6-4784-a3e1-30d523309105"
source_url: "https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=142163"
source_hash: "c179f3eaef5cd6d0e83d287aa05711d0546ed188e4afe6eb7a5a9a2cea0629f9"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-de"]
---

# Delaware SB 118 (153) — AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 472, VOLUME 83 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE RELATING TO CIVIL ACTIONS FOR TORTIOUS INJURIES, INCLUDING DEATH, TO LAWFULLY OWNED PETS.

In the 151st General Assembly, SS1 to SB 258 was passed, which permitted pet owners to pursue compensatory damages without limitation for veterinary bills incurred to care for a pet that was injured by the negligence, reckless, or intentional acts of another individual or that individual's pet. This act removes a sunset provision that would have these changes expire on October 14, 2025.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.


## Votes

- SM — **37–0** (pass) · lower
- SM — **18–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Brian Pettyjohn — primary (person)
- Daniel B. Short — primary (person)
- Melanie Ross Levin — primary (person)
- Stell Parker Selby — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-05-01** Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-05-14** Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits `committee-passage`
- **2025-06-10** Passed By Senate. Votes: 18 YES 3 ABSENT `passage`
- **2025-06-11** Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-06-24** Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 10 On Its Merits `committee-passage`
- **2025-06-30** Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 3 ABSENT 1 VACANT `passage`
- **2025-08-20** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4ec760af-21e6-4784-a3e1-30d523309105`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).