79R2471 UM-F

By:  Harris                                                       S.B. No. 172



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(a), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(a)  A person commits an offense if the person intentionally,
[or] knowingly, or recklessly:
		(1)  kills in a cruel manner, tortures, or causes 
serious bodily injury to an animal;
		(2)  fails unreasonably to provide necessary food,
water, 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, not owned by the actor, [other than cattle, horses, 
sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another] without legal 
authority or the owner's effective consent;
		(6)  trains, conditions, or 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)  causes bodily injury to an animal [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.                                          
	SECTION 2.  Sections 42.09(c)(2) and (5), Penal Code, are 
amended to read as follows:
		(2)  "Animal" means a nonhuman mammal, bird, or captive 
amphibian or reptile [domesticated living creature and wild living 
creature previously captured.  "Animal" does not include an 
uncaptured wild creature or a wild creature whose capture was 
accomplished by conduct at issue under this section].
		(5)  "Necessary food, water, care, or shelter" includes 
food, water, care, or shelter provided to the extent required to 
maintain the animal in a state of good health.
	SECTION 3.  Section 42.09(h), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(h)  It is a defense to prosecution for an offense under [an 
exception to the application of] this section that the conduct 
engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and otherwise 
lawful:
		(1)  use of an animal if that use occurs solely for the 
purpose of:         
			(A)  fishing, hunting, or trapping; or                                       
			(B)  wildlife control as regulated by state and 
federal law; [or]
		(2)  animal husbandry or farming practice involving 
livestock; or    
		(3)  activity to control common household vermin or 
rodents.         
	SECTION 4.  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.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.