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Senate Bill 474 |
Senate Author: Lucio et al. |
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Effective: Vetoed |
House Sponsor: Collier et al. |
Senate Bill 474 repeals and replaces Health and Safety Code provisions prohibiting the unlawful restraint of a dog. Among other provisions, the bill prohibits an owner, with certain exceptions, from leaving a dog outside and unattended by use of a restraint without access to certain provisions. The bill establishes criminal penalties.
Governor's Reason for Veto: "Texans love their dogs, so it is no surprise that our statutes already protect them by outlawing true animal cruelty. Yet Senate Bill 474 would compel every dog owner, on pain of criminal penalties, to monitor things like the tailoring of the dog's collar, the time the dog spends in the bed of a truck, and the ratio of tether‑to‑dog length, as measured from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail. Texas is no place for this kind of micro‑managing and over‑criminalization."