Much needed GREAT news from THLN, Randy Turner!

June 4, 2007

Victory for the Animals! "This has truly been a landmark year for the animals of Texas," said Randy Turner, president of Texas Humane Legislation Network. "We commend our state legislators for giving innocent creatures the protection they deserve from senseless acts of violence." June 4, 2007 Dear Shannon, Thanks to your hard work and determination in fighting for the animals of Texas, we can all celebrate the most successful legislative session to date for animal

protection. With your help, good bills were passed and bad ones were defeated. Topping the list of good bills was the passage of HB 2328, the animal cruelty bill, which strengthens our current animal cruelty statute by closing loopholes that have allowed many heinous crimes against animals to go unpunished. HB 2328, sponsored by State Rep. Beverly Woolley and State Sen. John Whitmire: $ lowers the required mental state for proof of animal cruelty from "intentional or knowing" to "reckless" which will make proof of animal abuse much easier; $ specifically protects homeless dogs and feral cats from acts of cruelty; $ makes it a felony to kill, administer poison to or cause serious bodily injury to an animal without the owner's consent; and $ adds "water" to the list of required care for an animal in a person's custody. A prosecutor must still prove "torture" in some cases involving cruelty to animals classified as "livestock" (including horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, goats); however, "torture" is now defined as "any act that causes unjustifiable pain or suffering", which will make proof of "torture" much easier. The animal cruelty bill will take effect September 1. Several other significant animal bills passed this session include: $ In the state budget bill, the legislature freed up over $2 million from the Animal Friendly License Plate Fund to help address the statewide pet overpopulation crisis. This money will now be available for distribution to low and no-cost spay/neuter programs throughout the state. $ HB 916, sponsored by State Rep. Jose Menendez and State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, increases the penalty for dog fighting from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony and increases the punishment for attending a dog fighting exhibition from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A

misdemeanor. $ SB 1562, sponsored by State Sen. "Chuy" Hinojosa and State Rep. Phil King, provides for training and certification of animal control officers. This bill also increased the penalty for killing or seriously injuring a police service animal from a third degree felony to a second degree felony. $ HB 1411, sponsored by State Rep. Buddy West, prohibits an owner from tethering a dog outside between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am and during extreme weather conditions. $ HB 88, sponsored by State Rep. Dan Branch, requires that companion animals and service animals be included in evacuation plans in the event of natural disasters. $ HB 1728, sponsored by State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, allows certain confidential information in rabies vaccination certificates and in municipal or county dog and cat registries to be disclosed to third party contractors who are performing animal control services or animal registration services for a city or county; but 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. And, we can now breathe a sigh of relief that horse slaughter in Texas is dead! Efforts waged by some of the most influential lobbyists in Austin to save Texas' two notorious horse slaughter plants were defeated once again. You made your voices heard and the legislators listened. Last, but certainly not least, we defeated an attempt to give owners of cruelly treated animals the right to appeal the court's decision to remove those animals from their custody. This bill would have had a huge negative effect on the ability of law enforcement to seize cruelly treated animals because of the time and costs

involved in housing and caring for these animals during protracted appeals. "This has truly been a landmark year for the animals of Texas," said Randy Turner, president of Texas Humane Legislation Network. "We commend our state legislators for giving innocent creatures the protection they deserve from senseless acts of violence." ### THLN worked in conjunction with the Texas Federation of Humane Societies, The Texas Animal Control Association, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The Humane Society of the United States, the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, Habitat for Horses and other Texas horse groups this legislative session. The Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN) is a nonprofit, grassroots organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals through legislation, education and advocacy. For more information about THLN please visit www.thln.org. "Ironically, the man most guilty of torture to the voiceless speaks his voice loudest for mercy when condemned for his cruelty". - Shannon Morgan

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