---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY-- REGULATION OF VICIOUS DOGS"
description: "Permits euthanization of vicious dogs upon finding that dogs condition warrants euthanasia or after determination that there is no reasonable placement for the dog/provides any municipality that surrenders dog to RISPCA shall be responsible for costs."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 2538"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 2538 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ruggerio"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2024-03-01"
last_action: "2024-06-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9ad8f18d-6da4-49c2-bff3-47eebd6a02df"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "0afcdd3e7da96ac991ceb7815cbf49497e8f6284b838d2443282804e4f38eae2"
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 2538 (2024) — AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY-- REGULATION OF VICIOUS DOGS

Permits euthanization of vicious dogs upon finding that dogs condition warrants euthanasia or after determination that there is no reasonable placement for the dog/provides any municipality that surrenders dog to RISPCA shall be responsible for costs.

## Version chain

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

1. **2538 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2538A.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **72–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ruggerio — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-03-01** 03/01/2024 Introduced, referred to Senate Environment and Agriculture `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2024-03-08** 03/08/2024 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/13/2024)
- **2024-03-13** 03/13/2024 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2024-05-24** 05/24/2024 Scheduled for consideration (05/29/2024)
- **2024-05-24** 05/24/2024 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2024-05-29** 05/29/2024 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-05-30** 05/30/2024 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/04/2024) `reading-3`
- **2024-06-04** 06/04/2024 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2024-06-05** 06/05/2024 Referred to House Municipal Government & Housing `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-07** 06/07/2024 Scheduled for consideration (06/10/2024)
- **2024-06-10** 06/10/2024 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-06-11** 06/11/2024 Placed on House Calendar (06/12/2024) `reading-3`
- **2024-06-12** 06/12/2024 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2024-06-20** 06/20/2024 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-06-24** 06/24/2024 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/9ad8f18d-6da4-49c2-bff3-47eebd6a02df`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).