Smithfield, Rhode Island

§ 126-35 Care of dogs.

A. It shall be a violation of this section for an owner or keeper to:

(1) Keep any dog on a permanent tether that restricts movement of the tethered dog to an area less than 113 square feet, or less than a six-foot radius at ground level.

(2) Tether a dog with a choke-type collar, head collar, or prong-type collar. The weight of any chain or tether shall not exceed 1/8 of the dog’s total body weight.

(3) Keep any dog tethered for more than 10 hours during a twenty-four-hour period or keep any dog confined in an area or primary enclosure for more than 14 hours during any twenty-four-hour period, and more than 10 hours during a twenty-four-hour period, if the area is not greater than that which is required under the most recently adopted version of the Department of Environmental Management’s rules and regulations governing animal care facilities.

(4) Tether a dog anytime from the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., except for a maximum of 15 minutes.

(5) Keep any dog outside, either tethered or otherwise confined, when the ambient temperature is beyond the industry standard for the weather safety scale as set forth in the most recent adopted version of the Tufts Animal Care and Condition (TACC) weather safety scale.

(6) No person shall allow a dog to be kept outside tethered, penned, caged, fenced, or otherwise confined for more than 30 minutes without access to adequate shelter or adequate water for use by such dog.