HBA-EDN H.B. 653 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 653
By: Najera
Criminal Jurisprudence
7/17/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Texans have become increasingly concerned with cases of cruel and violent
acts perpetrated on innocent pets and animals.  Research has confirmed a
correlation between violence against animals and violence toward humans.
In one case of animal cruelty, the prosecutor pressed felony charges of
theft instead of animal cruelty because, prior to the 77th Legislature,
state law only provided for a misdemeanor for an offense of animal cruelty.
Such penalties may not have been sufficient to deter offenses of animal
cruelty. House Bill 653 modifies the penalties for such offenses. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 653 amends the Penal Code to increase the penalties for certain
offenses of animal cruelty.  The bill provides that a person commits a
state jail felony, or a felony of the third degree if the person has
previously been convicted two times of animal cruelty, if the person
intentionally or knowingly: 

_tortures an animal;

_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; 

_causes one animal to fight with another;

_uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training or in dog coursing on a
racetrack; or 

_trips a horse.

H.B. 653 provides that it is an exception to the application of these
provisions that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted
and otherwise lawful use of an animal if that use occurs solely for the
purpose of fishing, hunting, trapping, or wildlife control or as an animal
husbandry or farming practice involving livestock.     

H.B. 653 amends the Family Code to require a juvenile court to order a
child who is found to have engaged in delinquent conduct constituting an
offense of animal cruelty to participate in psychological counseling for a
period to be determined by the court. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.