Important Animal Bills Passed by Texas Legislature-From Texas Humane Legislation Network-Cross Post, Please

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IMPORTANT ANIMAL BILLS

IN THE 2007 TEXAS LEGISLATURE (80TH SESSION)

 

HOUSE BILLS

Bill No. HB 88 Introduced By: Dan Branch (R - Dist. 108)

Relating to the evacuation and sheltering of service animals and household pets in a disaster.

Bill Analysis: This bill requires that companion animals and service animals be included in evacuation plans in the event of natural disasters.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED.

 

Bill No. HB 241 Introduced By: Roberto Alonzo (R - Dist. 104)

Relating to equipping each K-9 law enforcement vehicle with a heat alarm system.

Bill Analysis: This bill requires that heat alarm systems be installed in any vehicle used in a K-9 law enforcement program. The heat alarm system would activate when the temperature in the vehicle’s interior becomes dangerous to a police dog in the vehicle.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. HB 308 Introduced By: Edmund Kuempel (R – Dist. 44)

Allowing the use of laser sighting devices by hunters who are legally blind.

Bill Analysis: This bill allows a blind person to legally hunt wild animals by using a laser sighting device while accompanied by a sighted person over the age of 13 years.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. HB 408 Introduced By: Rob Eissler (R – Dist. 15)

Regulation of barking dogs in certain counties as a nuisance.

Bill Analysis: This bill applies only to the unincorporated area of a county that has a population of 275,000 or more and is adjacent to a county with a population of 3.3 million or more. Thus, its application is limited to one or more counties that abut Harris County. The bill makes the barking by a dog outdoors in a neighborhood a nuisance if a reasonable person would find the noise objectionable. In determining that, the following factors would be considered: the time of day the noise was produced, the proximity of the production of the noise to other premises, and whether the sound is recurrent, intermittent or constant.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. HB 604 Introduced By: Donna Howard (D – Dist. 48)

Allows a special appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of land used for wildlife management under a conservation easement.

Bill Analysis: There are many current laws that allow lower tax appraisals for land that is used for certain purposes. This bill adds to that list land that is dedicated for wildlife management under a conservation easement that prohibits use of the land for any purpose other than habitat for wildlife.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. HB 916 Introduced By: Jose Menendez (D – Dist. 124)

Increases penalties for dog fighting and attending a dog fighting exhibition.

Bill Analysis: This bill strengthens the punishment for dog fighting by increasing the penalties for dog fighting and attending dog fighting exhibitions. It increases the penalty for causing one dog to fight with another from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony and increases the penalty for attending a dog fighting exhibition from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. HB 1258 Introduced By: Buddy West (R – Dist. 81)

Interference with police service animals.

Bill Analysis: This bill increases the penalties for injuring a police service animal from a state jail felony to a second degree felony if the defendant’s action results in killing the animal or seriously injuring the animal in a manner that permanently affects the animal’s ability to perform as a police service animal.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED (BUT WAS AMENDED ONTO ANOTHER BILL – SB 1562 – THAT PASSED)

 

Bill No. HB 1308 Introduced By: Harvey Hilderbran (R – Dist. 53)

Regulation of deer breeding operations.

Bill Analysis: This bill effectively allows private ownership of white-tailed and mule deer, both of which are native species to Texas. Absent this bill, these animals would not be permitted to be owned by any individual, but instead be owned by the state for all citizens. This bill is designed to facilitate the ownership and breeding of white-tailed and mule deer by owners of large ranches which then promote private hunts for special bred white-tailed and mule deer.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. HB 1309 Introduced By: Harvey Hilderbran (R – Dist. 53)

Relating to the possession or transportation of certain snakes that are not indigenous to this country; providing a penalty.

Bill Analysis: This bill would require persons possessing or transporting certain poisonous and constrictor snakes that are not indigenous to this country to obtain a permit and be regulated by Texas Parks & Wildlife.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. HB 1355 Introduced By: Dan Gattis (R- Dist. 20)

Relating to dog attacks on persons.

Bill Analysis: This bill was one of several that penalize the owner of a dog that attacks a person. This was the best drafted and fairest in terms of balancing the safety of the general public and the owner’s rights with respect to a dog and the dog’s right with respect to having its conduct evaluated on a case by case basis. Under this bill, a person commits an offense if the person is the owner of the dog and fails with criminal negligence to secure the dog, and the dog makes an unprovoked attack on another person at a location other than the owner’s property that causes serious bodily injury or death to the other person. An offense under this bill is a third degree felony unless the attack causes death and it then becomes a second degree felony. If the owner is convicted, the court may order the dog destroyed.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. HB 1411 Introduced By: Buddy West (R – Dist. 81)

Relating to the unlawful restraint (tethering) of a dog.

Bill Analysis: This bill prohibits an owner from tethering a dog outside between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM and during extreme weather conditions. The bill also prohibits the use of a pinchtype, prong-type or choke-type collar and a tether that is shorter than 5 times the length of the dog or 10 feet, whichever is the lesser.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. HB 1547 Introduced By: Jodie Laubenberg (R – Dist. 89)

Inclusion of pets and other companion animals in protective orders.

Bill Analysis: This bill allows a family court judge to enter orders protecting family pets from abusive spouses. Many times in domestic violence situations, (divorces and other family disputes) an abusive spouse will kill or harm the other spouse’s companion animal for revenge, dominance or as a means of punishment. This bill allows a court to prohibit that by court order and punish any person violating that order by a contempt order or through a criminal penalty.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. HB 1728 Introduced By: Linda Harper-Brown (R – Dist. 105)

Confidentiality of certain information in rabies vaccination certificates and in municipal or county dog and cat registries.

Bill Analysis: The Health & Safety Code currently requires cities and counties to keep information contained in a rabies vaccination certificate and in a dog and cat registry confidential and be disclosed only to a government entity for purposes related to the protection of public health and safety. This bill amends the current law to allow that information to be disclosed to third party contractors who are performing animal control services or animal registration services for a city or county; and requires those third party contractors to maintain the confidentiality of that information and use that information only in connection with the performance of their duties under the government contract.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. HB 2328 Introduced By: Beverly Woolley (R – Dist. 136)

Offenses for cruelty to animals.

Bill Analysis: This bill closes numerous “loopholes†in the current animal cruelty statute that for years have allowed many aggregated acts of animal cruelty to go unpunished.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. HB 2414 Introduced By: Carl Isett (R– Dist. 84)

Relating to hunting from public roads or rights-of-way.

Bill Analysis: This bill makes hunting from public roads or rights-of-way an offense under the Parks and Wildlife Code.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. HB 2476 Introduced By: Sid Miller (R – Dist. 59)

Legalizing the sale and possession of horse meat.

Bill Analysis: The possession and sale of horse meat for human consumption is currently prohibited in Texas. This bill legalizes that practice.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. HB 2966 Introduced By: Mark Strama (D – Dist. 50)

Prohibits dedicated revenues received from specialty license plate fees to be used for general governmental purposes.

Bill Analysis: This bill requires that monies from specialty license plate fees such as the Animal Friendly License Plate be appropriated for their intended purpose. Currently, even though these funds are dedicated, they were not always fully appropriated for their intended purpose, but instead held in abeyance as an accounting trick to balance the state budget.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. HB 3845 Introduced By: Harvey Hilderbran (R – Dist. 53)

Relating to the possession, custody, or control of a cougar, bobcat, or coyote.

Bill Analysis: This bill exempts from the required registration of dangerous wild animal a trapper who traps bobcats, cougars or coyotes and uses them in a predator control program or sells them to someone else to use in a predator control program.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. HB 3930 Introduced By: Mark Homer (R – Dist. 3)

Relating to the appeal process in the disposition of cruelly treated animals.

Bill Analysis: Under current law when law enforcement officers seize cruelly treated animals, the hearing to determine whether or not the owner will be divested of ownership must be held within 10 days in a municipal or Justice of the Peace Court and the decision of that court is final and non-appealable. HB 3930 changes that law and allows the owner to appeal the municipal or Justice Court's decision to a county court or county court at law.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

SENATE BILLS

 

Bill No. SB 254 Introduced By: Rodney Ellis (D – Dist. 13)

Prohibiting the sale of live animals on a public highway or road or a public right-of-way or parking lot.

Bill Analysis: This bill authorizes the commissioners’ court of a county with a population of over 1.3 million people to regulate the sale of animals on a public highway or road, in the right-of-way of a public highway or road or in a parking lot in the unincorporated area of the county. Current law allows this only in counties with a population of 2.2 million or more.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

Bill No. SB 349 Introduced By: Rodney Ellis (D – Dist. 13)

The regulation of dangerous pets in certain populous counties.

Bill Analysis: This bill applies only in counties with a population of 3.3 million or more which limits the application of this bill to Harris County. The bill allows the county to effectively declare any pet as dangerous and impose fees and other requirements of the owner of the pet determined to be dangerous. There are no standards for the determination.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Bill No. SB 1562 Introduced By: Juan Hinojosa (D – Dist. 20)

Relating to animal control officer training.

Bill Analysis: This bill will require animal control officers to have a certain minimum number of hours of training and a certificate of completion of that training. The initial basic training will be 12 hours and the continuing training will require a minimum of 30 hours every 3 years thereafter.

FINAL ACTION: PASSED

 

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTIONS

 

Resolution No. HJR 70 Introduced By: David Farabee (D – Dist. 69)

Proposes a constitutional amendment establishing the right to hunt, fish and otherwise enjoy access to certain natural resources and the right to enjoy clean air and water.

Analysis: This is the initial step required to amend the Texas state constitution. If this resolution were to pass, it would place this issue on the ballot for the voters to determine whether or not to amend the constitution to establish the right to hunt, fish, etc.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED

 

Resolution No. HJR 71 Introduced By: Harvey Hilderbran (R – Dist. 53)

Proposing a constitutional amendment relating to the allocation and use of the sporting goods sales tax revenue to fund state and local parks.

Analysis: This resolution would allow the citizens of Texas to vote on a constitutional amendment to require the allocation and use of sporting goods sales tax revenue to fund state and local parks. Currently it can be used for other things in the general fund.

FINAL ACTION: FAILED