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78R5240 EMT-D

By:  Zedler                                                       H.B. No. 1139



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the offense of cruelty to animals.                                
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 42.09, Penal Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (i) to read as 
follows:
	(a)  A person commits an offense if the person intentionally 
or knowingly:   
		(1)  tortures an animal, an uncaptured wild living 
creature, or a wild creature whose capture was accomplished by 
conduct at issue under this section;
		(2)  fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, 
care, or shelter for an animal in the person's custody;
		(3)  abandons unreasonably an animal in the person's 
custody;               
		(4)  transports or confines an animal in a cruel 
manner;                    
		(5)  kills, seriously injures, or administers poison to 
an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, 
belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's 
effective consent;
		(6)  causes one animal to fight with another;                                 
		(7)  uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training 
or in dog coursing on a racetrack;
		(8)  trips a horse;                                                           
		(9)  injures an animal, other than cattle, horses, 
sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal 
authority or the owner's effective consent;  or
		(10)  seriously overworks an animal.                                          
	(i)  It is an exception to the application of Subsection 
(a)(1) that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally 
accepted and otherwise lawful action directed toward the use of an 
uncaptured wild living creature or a wild creature the capture of 
which was accomplished by conduct at issue under this section if 
that action occurs solely for the purpose of:
		(1)  fishing, hunting, or trapping; or                                 
		(2)  wildlife control as regulated by state and federal 
law.         
	SECTION 2.  (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                       
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to an 
offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.   An 
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered 
by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former 
law is continued in effect for that purpose.  For purposes of this 
section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this 
Act if any element of the offense was committed before that date.