PAW Cares Act

Summary: These comprise Texas' anti-cruelty laws. Texas has laws that prohibit cruelty to both livestock (sec. 42.09) and non-livestock animals (sec. 42.092). Both laws requires a scienter of intentionally or knowingly, and enumerate limited defenses. "Animal" means a domesticated living creature and wild living creature previously captured but does not include an uncaptured wild creature. Also included is Texas animal fighting provision, which criminalizes being a spectator at an animal fighting exhibition among other things. In 2011, Texas enacted a law prohibiting cockfighting.

§ 42.092. Cruelty to Nonlivestock Animals

(a) In this section:

(1) “Abandon” includes abandoning an animal in the person's custody without making reasonable arrangements for assumption of custody by another person.

(2) “Animal” means a domesticated living creature, including any stray or feral cat or dog, and a wild living creature previously captured. The term does not include an uncaptured wild living creature or a livestock animal.

(3) “Cruel manner” includes a manner that causes or permits unjustified or unwarranted pain or suffering.

(4) “Custody” includes responsibility for the health, safety, and welfare of an animal subject to the person's care and control, regardless of ownership of the animal.

(5) “Depredation” has the meaning assigned by Section 71.001, Parks and Wildlife Code.

(6) “Livestock animal” has the meaning assigned by Section 42.09.

(7) “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.

(8) “Torture” includes any act that causes unjustifiable pain or suffering.

(9) “Trap-Neuter-Return Program” means a nonlethal population control practice in which an animal is:

(A) trapped;

(B) evaluated by a veterinarian;

(C) if unvaccinated, vaccinated by a veterinarian;

(D) if unsterilized, sterilized by a veterinarian;

(E) marked by a veterinarian, whether by notching or tipping one ear or otherwise; and

(F) returned to the trap location.

(10) “Veterinarian” shall have the same meaning as set forth in Section 801.002, Occupations Code.

(b) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:

(1) tortures an animal or in a cruel manner kills or causes serious bodily injury to an animal;

(2) without the owner's effective consent, kills, administers poison to, or causes serious bodily injury to an animal;

(3) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, water, care, or shelter for an animal in the person's custody;

(4) abandons unreasonably an animal in the person's custody;

(5) transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner;

(6) without the owner's effective consent, causes bodily injury to an animal;

(7) causes one animal to fight with another animal, if either animal is not a dog;

(8) uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training or in dog coursing on a racetrack; or

(9) seriously overworks an animal.

(c) An offense under Subsection (b)(3), (4), (5), (6), or (9) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section, two times under Section 42.09, or one time under this section and one time under Section 42.09.

(c-1) An offense under Subsection (b)(1) or (2) is a felony of the third degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if the person has previously been convicted under Subsection (b)(1), (2), (7), or (8) or under Section 42.09.

(c-2) An offense under Subsection (b)(7) or (8) is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the person has previously been convicted under this section or under Section 42.09.

(d) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:

(1) the actor had a reasonable fear of bodily injury to the actor or to another person by a dangerous wild animal as defined by Section 822.101, Health and Safety Code; or

(2) the actor was engaged in bona fide experimentation for scientific research.

(e) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b)(2) or (6) that:

(1) the animal was discovered on the person's property in the act of or after injuring or killing the person's livestock animals or damaging the person's crops and that the person killed or injured the animal at the time of this discovery; or

(2) the person killed or injured the animal within the scope of the person's employment as a public servant or in furtherance of activities or operations associated with electricity transmission or distribution, electricity generation or operations associated with the generation of electricity, or natural gas delivery.

(e-1) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b)(4) that the actor released or returned a stray or feral animal which is not a wild living creature pursuant to a Trap-Neuter-Return Program.

(e-2) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b)(4) that the actor released or returned a previously trapped wild living creature in accordance with Texas wildlife laws and regulations.

(f) It is an exception to the application of this section that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and otherwise lawful:

(1) form of conduct occurring solely for the purpose of or in support of:

(A) fishing, hunting, or trapping; or

(B) wildlife management, wildlife or depredation control, or shooting preserve practices as regulated by state and federal law; or

(2) animal husbandry or agriculture practice involving livestock animals.

(g) This section does not create a civil cause of action for damages or enforcement of the section.

Credits
Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., ch. 886, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2007. Amended by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., ch. 576 (S.B. 762), § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2017; Acts 2017, 85th Leg., ch. 739 (S.B. 1232), § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2017; Acts 2023, 88th Leg., ch. 537 (H.B. 3660), §§ 1, 2, eff. June 10, 2023.

§ 42.10. Dog Fighting

(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly:

(1) causes a dog to fight with another dog;

(2) participates in the earnings of or operates a facility used for dog fighting;

(3) uses or permits another to use any real estate, building, room, tent, arena, or other property for dog fighting;

(4) owns or possesses dog-fighting equipment with the intent that the equipment be used to train a dog for dog fighting or in furtherance of dog fighting;

(5) owns or trains a dog with the intent that the dog be used in an exhibition of dog fighting; or

(6) attends as a spectator an exhibition of dog fighting.

(b) In this section:

(1) “Dog fighting” means any situation in which one dog attacks or fights with another dog.

(2) “Dog-fighting equipment” has the meaning assigned by Article 18.18(g), Code of Criminal Procedure.

(c) A conviction under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) may be had upon the uncorroborated testimony of a party to the offense.

(d) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(1) that the actor caused a dog to fight with another dog to protect livestock, other property, or a person from the other dog, and for no other purpose.

(e) An offense under Subsection (a)(4), (5), or (6) is a Class A misdemeanor. An offense under Subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3) is a state jail felony.

CREDIT(S)

Added by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 1610, ch. 305, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1983. Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 42.111 and amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Acts 2007, 80th Leg., ch. 644, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2007; Acts 2009, 81st Leg., ch. 1357, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2009.

HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES

2009 Legislation

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., ch. 1357 in subsec. (a), in the introductory phrase substituted “the person” for “he”, inserted subd. (4), and redesignated former subds. (4) and (5) as subds. (5) and (6), respectively; rewrote subsec. (b); and, in subsec. (e), substituted “(4), (5), or (6)” for “(4) or (5)”. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read:

”In this section, “dog fighting” means any situation in which one dog attacks or fights with another dog.”

Section 5 of Acts 2009, 81st Leg., ch. 1357 provides:

“The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective date [Sept. 1, 2009] of this Act or to the forfeiture of property used in the commission of that offense. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act, or the forfeiture of property used in the commission of that offense, is governed 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 occurred before that date.”

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