Jenniffer González Colón signs Laws 115 and 116: animals and artificial intelligence

On June 18, 2026, La Fortaleza publishes a single release in which Governor Jenniffer González Colón signs two laws. The first is Law 115-2026, formerly Senate Bill 107, authored by Carmelo Ríos Santiago and coauthored by Jeison Rosa Ramos: Law of Civil Remedies for the Protection of Animals. The page says it creates a civil remedy complementary to criminal mechanisms, and that any person may file a judicial action to protect an animal, even when they are not its guardian or owner. Courts may issue provisional-custody orders on sworn allegations of cruelty, abandonment, or abuse.

The second, on the same URL, is Law 116-2026, formerly Senate Bill 622, authored by Wilmer Reyes Berríos and coauthored by Nitza Morán Trinidad, Jeison Rosa Ramos, Brenda Pérez Soto, Luis Daniel Colón La Santa, Rafael Santos Ortiz, and Karen M. Román Rodríguez. It is titled Law of Transparency and the Right to Human Interaction in Public Services Assisted by Artificial Intelligence. Every agency or public corporation that uses virtual assistants, chatbots, or other automated systems must inform when the citizen is about to interact with artificial intelligence, and offer a reasonable alternative of human attention.

Two laws, one page. Two notes are not written. On June 3, in another La Fortaleza release, Jenniffer González Colón had vetoed Senate Bill 769, which created an Institute for Development and Innovation in Artificial Intelligence, for incompatibility with the certified Fiscal Plan. That veto is another date and another URL. Law 116-2026 neither voids nor confirms it: it regulates interaction in public services, it does not create the vetoed institute.

The release does not figure how many agencies already use chatbots, nor how many abuse cases will be litigated. What remain are the law numbers, the bills, the authors La Fortaleza named, and the two rules: a civil action even if the plaintiff is not the owner, and a human alternative alongside the artificial-intelligence notice. The reader has the La Fortaleza URL at the foot. This is not original reporting.

Source: La Fortaleza. https://www.fortaleza.pr.gov/prensa/gobernadora-convierte-en-ley-medidas-para-combatir-el-maltrato-animal-y-garantizar-interaccion-humana-en-servicios-publicos