Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1362 adds a new subchapter to the Health and Safety Code to provide for the regulation of dangerous wild animals. The bill requires each county and municipality by December 1, 2001, to adopt any ordinance or order necessary to implement a certificate of registration program through an animal registration agency and defines "animal registration agency" as the city or county animal control office or county sheriff in an area that does not have an animal control office. Each county or municipality is required, by order or ordinance, to establish and charge reasonable fees, not to exceed $50 per animal or $500 per person, for issuance or renewal of a certificate and requires certain information to be included in the application.

            House Bill 1362 prohibits a person, beginning June 1, 2002, from owning certain dangerous wild animals unless the person has been issued a certificate of registration from the local animal registration agency, and it provides for civil and criminal penalties. The bill requires the person to file a copy of the certificate of registration with the Texas Department of Health within 10 days of receipt of the certificate. The department is required by March 1, 2001, to adopt rules to establish a procedure for filing a certificate and to charge a reasonable fee to recover the cost associated with the filing.

            The bill also provides that the provisions of this subchapter do not apply to certain entities, including a research facility; a county, municipality, or agency of the state or the United States; an organization that is an accredited member of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association; and other named persons.