81R5693 JSC-D
By: Homer H.B. No. 1046
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appeals process in the disposition of cruelly
treated animals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 821.025(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) An owner divested of ownership of an animal under
Section 821.023 [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 from which the appeal is taken 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.]
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an appeal of a court order made on or after the effective date of
this Act. An appeal of a court order made before the effective date
of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the appeal was made,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.