In 2012, Rhode Island passed legislation prohibiting the use of veal crates and gestation crates by the following year. The law applies to farm owners and operators. "Farm owner or operator" means any person who owns or controls the operation of a farm. Any person who violates this law may face fines up to $500, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.

In 2018, the state went on to pass legislation banning the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens by July 1, 2026. Once again, the law applies to farm owners and operators. Violations may incur fines of up to $500. The text of the law requires that outside of a few exceptional cases, no farm owner or operator may “[tether] or [confine] any sow or calf covered animal in a manner that prevents such animal from turning around freely, lying down, standing up, or fully extending the animal's limbs.” 

Turning around freely and fully extending their limbs means that the sows and calves must be able to turn around in a complete circle, without touching any part of the enclosure and without the use of tethers. Hens must be able to spread both wings without touching the side of an enclosure or other egg-laying hens, and have access to the amount of usable floor space per hen that complies with the 2017 Edition of the United Egg Producers Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg Laying Flocks Guidelines for Cage-Free Egg Production.