ACM H.B. 968 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE H.B. 968 By: Uher 5-1-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND The comb and wattle of game fowl are often trimmed. Under current law, this practice is often construed as cruel treatment toward animals. PURPOSE HB 968, as proposed, would allow the trimming of poultry combs and wattles. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 42.09, Penal Code, Cruelty to Animals, by adding subsections (g) and (h). Subsection (g) states that it is a defense to prosecution that the actor's conduct constituted trimming a comb or wattle or altering a spur of a game rooster and that the conduct was done in accordance with the standards promulgated by the American Poultry Association. Subsection (h) states that it is a defense to prosecution that the animal is a game fowl and that the actor owns, raises or cares for the game fowl for the purpose of showing, selling or transporting the game fowl, and that the treatment for which the actor is being prosecuted was consistent with the standards of the American Poultry Association. SECTION 2. Amends Section 821.021, Health and Safety Code, Definition, to provide that an animal is not "cruelly treated" if an animal is treated in a manner that is consistent with the standards of the American Poultry Association. SECTION 3. The defenses added by this Act are available to a person regardless of when the offense was committed but only for trials commencing on or after the effective date of this Act. SECTION 4. Emergency Clause