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78R5049 JRJ-F
By: Van Arsdale H.B. No. 984
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the issuance of warrants for the seizure of cruelly
treated animals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 821.021, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 821.021. DEFINITIONS [DEFINITION]. In this
subchapter:[,]
(1) "Cruelly [cruelly] treated" includes tortured,
seriously overworked, unreasonably abandoned, unreasonably
deprived of necessary food, care, or shelter, cruelly confined, or
caused to fight with another animal.
(2) "Magistrate" means any officer as defined in
Section 2.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, except that the term does
not include justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Court of
Criminal Appeals, judges or masters of statutory probate courts,
and judges or masters of district courts that give preference to
family law matters or family district courts under Subchapter D,
Chapter 24, Government Code.
SECTION 2. Sections 821.022(a) and (b), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) If a county sheriff, constable, or deputy constable or
an officer who has responsibility for animal control in a
municipality has reason to believe that an animal has been or is
being cruelly treated, he may apply to a justice court or magistrate
in the county or to a municipal court in the municipality in which
the animal is located for a warrant to seize the animal.
(b) On a showing of probable cause to believe that the
animal has been or is being cruelly treated, the court or magistrate
shall issue the warrant and set a time within 10 days of the date of
issuance for a hearing in the court to determine whether the animal
has been cruelly treated.
SECTION 3. Sections 821.023(d)-(g), Health and Safety Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), if the court or
magistrate finds that the animal's owner has cruelly treated the
animal, the court or magistrate shall:
(1) order a public sale of the animal by auction;
(2) order the animal given to a nonprofit animal
shelter, pound, or society for the protection of animals; or
(3) order the animal humanely destroyed if the court
or magistrate decides that the best interests of the animal or that
the public health and safety would be served by doing so.
(e) If the court or magistrate finds that the animal's owner
has cruelly treated the animal and that the animal is farm
livestock, the owner shall be divested of ownership and the court or
magistrate shall order a public sale of the animal by auction, order
the animal given to a nonprofit animal shelter, pound, or society
for the protection of animals, or order the animal humanely
destroyed if the court or magistrate decides that the best
interests of the animal or that the public health and safety would
be served by doing so. In this subsection, "farm livestock" means
cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, mules, horses, jacks, jennets, or
poultry raised or used on a farm or ranch for food or for the
production of legal income.
(f) The court or magistrate may order that an animal
disposed of under Subsection (d)(1) or (d)(2) be spayed or neutered
at the cost of the receiving party.
(g) The court or magistrate shall order the animal returned
to the owner if the court or magistrate does not find that the
animal's owner has cruelly treated the animal.
SECTION 4. Section 821.024(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Proceeds from the sale of the animal shall be applied
first to the expenses incurred in caring for the animal during
impoundment and in conducting the auction. The officer conducting
the auction shall pay any excess proceeds to the justice or
municipal court or magistrate ordering the auction. The court or
magistrate shall return the excess proceeds to the former owner of
the animal.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.