---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY -- CRUELTY TO ANIMALS (Increases the penalty for repeat convictions for animal cruelty.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY -- CRUELTY TO ANIMALS (Increases the penalty for repeat convictions for animal cruelty.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "SB 2135"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 2135 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Animals", "Criminal Offense", "Fees"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ciccone", "Ruggerio"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-01-23"
last_action: "2018-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/41a00853-b651-4bc5-8e25-ffab20e8d96b"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "aa4f931cda9458260ef80417876cacf5fcb565b6f3efd1db5e2d5ca6504b6cc0"
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 2135 (2018) — AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY -- CRUELTY TO ANIMALS (Increases the penalty for repeat convictions for animal cruelty.)

## Version chain

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

1. **2135 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText18/SenateText18/S2135A.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **44–9** (pass) · upper
- Passage — **36–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ciccone — primary (person)
- Ruggerio — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-01-23** 01/23/2018 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-03-16** 03/16/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/22/2018)
- **2018-03-22** 03/22/2018 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2018-06-01** 06/01/2018 Scheduled for consideration (06/05/2018)
- **2018-06-05** 06/05/2018 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-06-06** 06/06/2018 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/12/2018)
- **2018-06-12** 06/12/2018 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2018-06-13** 06/13/2018 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Scheduled for consideration (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Placed on House Calendar (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 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/41a00853-b651-4bc5-8e25-ffab20e8d96b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).