---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY -- CARE OF DOGS (Defines the term \"adequate shelter\" where dogs may be kept. It would limit the weight of any dog chain or tether to one-eighth (1/8) of the dogs total body weight. In addition it would limit the time dogs may be tethered outdoors.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY -- CARE OF DOGS (Defines the term \"adequate shelter\" where dogs may be kept. It would limit the weight of any dog chain or tether to one-eighth (1/8) of the dogs total body weight. In addition it would limit the time dogs may be tethered outdoors.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "SB 2055"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 2055 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Animals"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Coyne", "Goodwin", "Lynch Prata", "McCaffrey", "Sosnowski"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-01-18"
last_action: "2018-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d4b4f85b-3761-4464-9640-02739fe7a543"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "56594f4cb40140b8fb33bbc2060d0cdb8204b2516dc359e975c17913a819caa1"
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-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island SB 2055 (2018) — AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY -- CARE OF DOGS (Defines the term "adequate shelter" where dogs may be kept. It would limit the weight of any dog chain or tether to one-eighth (1/8) of the dogs total body weight. In addition it would limit the time dogs may be tethered outdoors.)

## Version chain

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

1. **2055 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText18/SenateText18/S2055A.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **66–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage — **35–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Coyne — primary (person)
- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Lynch Prata — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)
- Sosnowski — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-01-18** 01/18/2018 Introduced, referred to Senate Environment and Agriculture `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-02-09** 02/09/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/14/2018)
- **2018-02-14** 02/14/2018 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2018-05-18** 05/18/2018 Scheduled for consideration (05/23/2018)
- **2018-05-23** 05/23/2018 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-05-24** 05/24/2018 Placed on Senate Calendar (05/30/2018)
- **2018-05-30** 05/30/2018 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2018-05-31** 05/31/2018 Referred to House H.E.W. `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 Placed on House Calendar (06/22/2018)
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2018-06-27** 06/27/2018 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-07-02** 07/02/2018 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/d4b4f85b-3761-4464-9640-02739fe7a543`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).