---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act allowing humane transportation of K9 partners aka Nero's law"
description: "Senate, November 9, 2021 -- The committee on Senate Ways and Means, to whom was referred the Senate Bill to allow humane transportation of K9 partners aka Nero's law.(Senate, No. 1606),- reports, recommending that the same ought to pass with an amendment substituting a new draft with the same title (Senate, No. 2573)."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ma"
legislature: "Massachusetts General Court"
session: "192nd"
identifier: "S 2573"
citation: "Massachusetts S 2573 (192nd)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Senate Committee on Ways and Means"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 18
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2021-11-09"
last_action: "2022-02-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/909f3cdc-d195-4d32-97c4-64802f462cd8"
source_url: "https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S2573"
source_hash: "68284e5ff31da11991f8a2f073ea96c28160cc5908328b49eb8becc57dfa9db6"
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-ma"]
---

# Massachusetts S 2573 (192nd) — An Act allowing humane transportation of K9 partners aka Nero's law

Senate, November 9, 2021 -- The committee on Senate Ways and Means, to whom was referred the Senate Bill to allow humane transportation of K9 partners aka Nero's law.(Senate, No. 1606),- reports, recommending that the same ought to pass with an amendment substituting a new draft with the same title (Senate, No. 2573).

## Version chain

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

1. **Bill Text** (committee substitute) — [source](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S2573.pdf)

## Sponsors

- Senate Committee on Ways and Means — primary (person)
- Adam J. Scanlon — cosponsor (person)
- Alyson M. Sullivan — cosponsor (person)
- Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Antonio F. D. Cabral — cosponsor (person)
- Bradley H. Jones, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Brian M. Ashe — cosponsor (person)
- Carol A. Doherty — cosponsor (person)
- Christopher Hendricks — cosponsor (person)
- Colleen M. Garry — cosponsor (person)
- David Allen Robertson — cosponsor (person)
- David F. DeCoste — cosponsor (person)
- David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf — cosponsor (person)
- Hannah Kane — cosponsor (person)
- Jason M. Lewis — cosponsor (person)
- John Barrett, III — cosponsor (person)
- John C. Velis — cosponsor (person)
- John J. Cronin — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph D. McKenna — cosponsor (person)
- Julian Cyr — cosponsor (person)
- Kathleen R. LaNatra — cosponsor (person)
- Kelly W. Pease — cosponsor (person)
- Mark C. Montigny — cosponsor (person)
- Mathew J. Muratore — cosponsor (person)
- Michael D. Brady — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick Joseph Kearney — cosponsor (person)
- Ryan C. Fattman — cosponsor (person)
- Sal N. DiDomenico — cosponsor (person)
- Steven G. Xiarhos — cosponsor (person)
- Steven S. Howitt — cosponsor (person)
- Susan L. Moran — cosponsor (person)
- Tami L. Gouveia — cosponsor (person)
- Walter F. Timilty — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-11-09** Reported from the committee on Senate Ways and Means
- **2021-11-09** Recommended new draft for S1606
- **2021-11-10** Rules suspended
- **2021-11-10** Substituted as a new draft for S1606
- **2021-11-10** Ordered to a third reading
- **2021-11-10** Read third and passed to be engrossed - see Roll Call #102 (Yeas 38 – Nays 0) `reading-3`
- **2021-11-15** Read; and referred to the committee on House Ways and Means `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-03** Committee recommended ought to pass with an amendment and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling `committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2022-02-03** Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting with the amendment (H4431) pending
- **2022-02-03** Rules suspended
- **2022-02-03** Read second, amended by substitution of a new text (H4431) and ordered to a third reading `reading-2`
- **2022-02-03** Rules suspended
- **2022-02-03** Read third and passed to be engrossed `reading-3`
- **2022-02-07** Rules suspended
- **2022-02-07** Senate concurred in the House amendment
- **2022-02-07** Enacted `passage`
- **2022-02-07** Enacted and laid before the Governor `passage`
- **2022-02-15** Signed by the Governor, Chapter 23 of the Acts of 2022 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/909f3cdc-d195-4d32-97c4-64802f462cd8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Massachusetts legislature records).