DME C.S.H.B. 2396 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS AGRICULTURE & LIVESTOCK C.S.H.B. 2396 By: Finnell/Howard 4-15-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Horse theft is a reoccurring problem in Texas that is compounded by inadequate identification of horses and lack of time and training for law enforcement to deal with the thefts. During 1991 and the first half of 1992, 665 horses (out of the approximately 1,000,000 horses in Texas per the Texas Agricultural Extension Service) were reported stolen to county sheriffs. Twenty-eight percent were recovered (Committee on Agriculture and Livestock Interim Study survey of 250 county sheriffs). Sixty-one percent of those horses were stolen from 24 of the 254 Texas counties, concentrated in five areas: Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin/San Antonio, Brownsville and Waco. Horses stolen and not reported or reported only to city police are not included. Most experts and horse owners agree that the number of horse thefts is highly correlated with the slaughter price of horses. There are two equine packing plants in Texas that ship their product mainly to Europe. In Texas, it is a state jail felony to steal a horse worth less than $20,000, punishable by 180 days to two years in prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000. If the horse is worth $20,000 or more, the crime is a third degree felony, punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division two to ten years and a fine not to exceed $10,000 (V.T.C.A., Sections 12.34, 12.35 and 31.03, Penal Code). The majority of stolen horses is pleasure horses or pets kept in the backyard, stables or detached property and is often one to which a family or person has a strong emotional attachment. Few are expensive racing or breeding animals. PURPOSE This legislation creates a crime prevention training program for horse owners and a training program for law enforcement agencies. It requires horse owners to register an identification mark with the county clerk, and allows a horse owner to register an identification mark with the Department of Public Safety. The bill requires a slaughterer who purchases horses to slaughter for human consumption to remit $2 per head to the Texas Agricultural Extension Service to pay for training programs and $3 per head to the entity designated to inspect horses at slaughter plants. 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. Adds Chapter 151, Agriculture Code, which prescribes the Texas Agricultural Extension Service to develop a horse theft prevention training program and notify owners of the program. Establishes that state, county, or local law enforcement agencies that handle horse theft shall train employees likely to investigate the cases in state law on horse theft and procedures. Law enforcement agencies shall report thefts on state and national computer reporting systems. SECTION 2. Amends Section 144.001, Agriculture Code, to authorize a horse owner to have and use a distinctive brand, earmark, tattoo, electronic device, or another generally accepted identification method. SECTION 3. Amends Section 144.002, Agriculture Code, to allow a minor who owns one more horses to have and use distinctive marks and brands under parental or guardian supervision. SECTION 4. Amends Section 144.041, Agriculture Code, to prescribe a horse owner to record an identification mark listed under Section 144.001 with the county clerk. SECTION 5. Amends Section 144.102, Agriculture Code, to give a horse owner the right to register an exclusive tattoo, mark or other generally accepted identification method with the Department of Public Safety. SECTION 6. Amends Section 146.052(b), Agriculture Code, by excluding horses from the animals that a hide and animal inspector may inspect. SECTION 7. Amends Section 148.011, Agriculture Code, to prescribe a slaughterer to keep records of animals purchased or slaughtered for two years instead of one. SECTION 8. Amends Section 148.012, Agriculture Code, to require slaughterers to keep a description of horses and record of who the horses were purchased from and the county they were driven from. This record must be filed with the county clerk. SECTION 9. Amends Sections 148.029 and 148.030, Subchapter C, Chapter 148, Agriculture Code. Section 148.029 requires a slaughterer to pay on a weekly basis $2 per horse purchased for slaughter to the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and $3 per horse to the department, agency, or association designated by the United States Department of Agriculture for the purpose of inspecting livestock in Texas under 7 U.S.C., Section 217(a). Section 148.030 requires the designee to inspect each horse held, handled, purchased, or sold through a slaughterhouse for identification marks. SECTION 10. Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 11. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE Under SECTION 9, the substitute changes "may" to "shall" regarding the designee's inspection of horses at slaughterhouses and deletes language specifying types of slaughterhouses that may be inspected.