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Senate Bill 555 |
Senate Author: Davis |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Laubenberg |
Current law authorizes a court, in a protective order, to prohibit a party from removing a pet, companion animal, or assistance animal from the possession of a person named in the order and to prohibit a party found to have committed family violence from harming, threatening, or interfering with the care, custody, or control of such an animal possessed by a person protected by the order or by a member of the person's family or household. Senate Bill 555 amends the Family Code to extend these protections to animals in the actual or constructive care of such persons. The bill also amends the Penal Code to clarify that, for purposes of provisions establishing the conduct that constitutes an offense relating to the violation of certain court orders or conditions of bond in a family violence case, possession of a pet, companion animal, or assistance animal includes actual and constructive care of the animal.