Key Texas Criminal Statutes
Covering Animal Cruelty
Two key Texas criminal statutes cover cruelty to animals. Those laws are repeated below, in their entirety, for interested members of the public.
Please report all suspected violations of these laws to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the area where the cruelty is occurring. Thus, in most areas in Texas, you should begin by contacting the Sheriff's Department or Police Department for the area. (For example, in Jefferson County, begin by calling the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.) To ensure that your report is taken seriously, follow up with that agency to ensure that an officer will promptly investigate the situation.
Keep in mind that if each of us does not act to report suspected episodes of animal cruelty to law enforcement officials, the cruelty will only continue unchecked. You can make a difference.
Though most animal shelter and protection organizations do not have law enforcement authority, it can be helpful to also notify them of suspected cruelty. Experienced individuals on staff may be able to provide further guidance.
If you can do so without violating any laws, try to obtain proof of your complaint. This could include photographs or videotapes of the animal(s), statements from other witnesses (including addresses and telephone numbers), or similar methods of documenting what occurred. You should keep track of details, such as the dates you witnessed the activity, what you saw, and who else was present.
Where the cause of an animal's death or poor condition may be disputed, it is important to get an expert to examine the animal. This should be done before the animal is moved, unless moving it is essential to obtaining necessary medical attention or to prevent further harm. Typically, a veterinarian should be called to evaluate the animal's condition and render an opinion as to its cause. Remind law enforcement officials to call upon such an expert. If they cannot or will not do so, consider calling a veterinarian or other qualified expert at your own expense. The expert should evaluate the animal as promptly as possible.
Many animal cruelty cases simply cannot be prosecuted without expert testimony concerning causation.
The Law
42.09. Cruelty to Animals
(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly:
(1) tortures or seriously overworks an animal;
(2) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, care, or shelter for an animal in his custody;
(3) abandons unreasonably an animal in his custody;
(4) transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner;
(5) kills, injures, or administers poison to an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's effective consent;
(6) causes one animal to fight with another;
(7) uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training or in dog coursing on a racetrack; or
(8) trips a horse.
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the actor was engaged in bona fide experimentation for scientific research.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) Animal means a domesticated living creature and wild living creature previously captured. Animal does not include an "uncaptured" wild creature or a wild creature whose capture was accomplished by conduct at issue under this section.
(2) Trip means to use an object to cause a horse to fall or lose its balance.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section.
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(5) that the animal was discovered on the person's property in the act of or immediately after injuring or killing the person's goats, sheep, cattle, horses, swine, or poultry and that the person killed or injured the animal at the time of this discovery.
(f) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(8) that the actor tripped the horse for the purpose of identifying the ownership of the horse or giving veterinary care to the horse.
42.10. Dog & Fighting
(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly:
(1) causes a dog to fight with another dog;
(2) for a pecuniary benefit causes a dog to fight with another dog;
(3) participates in the earnings of or operates a facility used for dog fighting;
(4) uses or permits another to use any real estate, building, room, tent, arena, or other property for dog fighting;
(5) owns or trains a dog with the intent that the dog be used in an exhibition of dog fighting; or
(6) attends as a spectator an exhibition of dog fighting.
(b) In this section, dog fighting means any situation in which one dog attacks or fights with another dog.
(c) A conviction under Subdivision (2), (3), or (4) of Subsection (a) may be had upon the uncorroborated testimony of a party to the offense.
(d) It is a defense to prosecution under Subdivision (1) or (2) of Subsection (a) that the actor caused a dog to fight with another dog to protect livestock, other property, or a person from the other dog, and for no other purpose.
(e) An offense under Subdivision (1) or (5) of Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor. An offense under Subdivision (2), (3), or (4) of Subsection (a)isastate jail felony. An offense under Subdivision (6) of Subsection (a) is a Class C misdemeanor.
This overview is not legal advice, and the appropriate action will necessarily vary somewhat from situation to situation.
Humane Society Contact
(409) 833-0504 or (409) 722-0605
P. O. Box 1629 · Beaumont, TX 77704-1629
2050 Spindletop Road · Beaumont, TX 77705
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