By: Goodman H.B. No. 1119
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the disposition of cruelly treated animals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 821, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 821.0211 to read as follows:
Sec. 821.0211. ADDITIONAL DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"magistrate" means any officer as defined in Article 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, or
courts of appeals, judges or masters of statutory probate courts,
or 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 821.022-821.025, Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 821.022. SEIZURE OF CRUELLY TREATED ANIMAL. (a) If a
peace officer [county sheriff, constable, or deputy constable] or
an officer who has responsibility for animal control in a county or
municipality has reason to believe that an animal has been or is
being cruelly treated, the officer [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 calendar days of
the date of issuance for a hearing in the appropriate justice court
or municipal court to determine whether the animal has been cruelly
treated.
(c) The officer executing the warrant shall cause the animal
to be impounded and shall give written notice to the owner of the
animal of the time and place of the hearing.
Sec. 821.023. HEARING; ORDER OF DISPOSITION [SALE] OR
RETURN OF ANIMAL. (a) A finding in a [county] court of competent
jurisdiction that the owner of an animal is guilty of an offense
under Section 42.09, Penal Code, involving the animal is prima
facie evidence at a hearing authorized by Section 821.022 that the
animal has been cruelly treated.
(b) A statement of an owner made at a hearing provided for
under this subchapter is not admissible in a trial of the owner for
an offense under Section 42.09, Penal Code.
(c) Each interested party is entitled to an opportunity to
present evidence at the hearing.
(d) If [Except as provided by Subsection (e), if] the court
finds that the animal's owner has cruelly treated the animal, the
owner shall be divested of ownership of the animal, and the court
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
decides that the best interests of the animal or that the public
health and safety would be served by doing so.
(e) A [If the] court that finds that an [the] animal's owner
has cruelly treated the animal shall order the owner to pay all
court costs, including costs of:
(1) investigation;
(2) expert witnesses;
(3) housing and caring for the animal during its
impoundment;
(4) conducting any public sale ordered by the court;
and
(5) humanely destroying the animal if destruction is
ordered by the court [and that the animal is farm livestock, the
owner shall be divested of ownership and the court 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
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 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 shall order the animal returned to the owner
if the court does not find that the animal's owner has cruelly
treated the animal.
Sec. 821.024. SALE OR DISPOSITION OF CRUELLY TREATED
ANIMAL. (a) Notice of an auction ordered under this subchapter must
be posted on a public bulletin board where other public notices are
posted for the county or municipality. At the auction, a bid by the
former owner of a cruelly treated animal or the owner's
representative may not be accepted.
(b) Proceeds from the sale of the animal shall be applied
first to any costs owed by the former owner under Section 821.023(e)
[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
ordering the auction. The court shall return the excess proceeds to
the former owner of the animal.
(c) If the officer is unable to sell the animal at auction,
the officer [he] may cause the animal to be humanely destroyed or
may give the animal to a nonprofit animal shelter, pound, or society
for the protection of animals.
Sec. 821.025. APPEAL. (a) An owner of an animal ordered sold
at public auction as provided in this subchapter may appeal the
order to a county court or county court at law in the county in which
the justice or municipal court is located. As a condition of
perfecting an appeal, the owner must file an appeal bond in an
amount determined by the justice or municipal court to be adequate
to cover the estimated expenses incurred in housing and caring for
the impounded animal during the appeal process. The decision of the
county court or county court at law may not be further appealed. An
owner may not appeal an order:
(1) to give the animal to a nonprofit animal shelter,
pound, or society for the protection of animals; or
(2) to humanely destroy the animal.
(b) While an appeal under this section is pending, the
animal may not be:
(1) sold[, destroyed,] or given away as provided by
Sections 821.023 and 821.024; or
(2) destroyed, except under circumstances which would
require the humane destruction of the animal to prevent undue pain
to or suffering of the animal [821.022-821.024].
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.