By: Farrar H.B. No. 3450
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to restrictions on the operations of public and private
animal shelters, providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the
Companion Animal Protection Act of 2011.
SECTION 2. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 823.010 to read as follows:
Sec. 823.010. STATEMENT OF LEGISLATIVE INTENT. (a) It is
the intent of the State of Texas to curtail the killing of savable
animals in the state. In order to accomplish this, the State of
Texas finds and declares:
(1) protecting animals is a legitimate and compelling
public interest;
(2) the killing of savable animals in animal shelters
is a tragedy, the incidence of which ought to be curtailed;
(3) no animal should be killed if the animal can be
placed in a suitable home, if a private sheltering agency or rescue
group is willing to take care and custody of the animal for purposes
of adoption, or, in the case of feral cats, if they can be
sterilized and released to their habitats;
(4) animals held in shelters deserve proper care and
humane treatment;
(5) shelters have a duty to make all savable animals
available for adoption for a reasonable period of time;
(6) owners of lost animals should have a reasonable
period of time within which to redeem their animals;
(7) shelters should not kill savable animals at the
request of their owners;
(8) all efforts should be made to encourage the
voluntary spaying and neutering of animals;
(9) when animals are killed, it should be done as
humanely and compassionately as possible;
(10) taxpayers and community members deserve full and
complete disclosure about how animal shelters operate;
(b) The State of Texas further finds and declares that all
public and private sheltering agencies that operate within the
state shall:
(1) commit themselves to ending the killing of savable
animals in their care and custody;
(2) work with other animal adoption organizations to
promote the adoption of animals and to reduce euthanasia rates;
(3) provide every animal in their custody with
individual consideration and care to the maximum extent
practicable;
(4) not ban, bar, limit or otherwise obstruct the
adoption of any animal based on arbitrary criteria, such as breed,
age, color, or other criteria except as to the individual animal's
medical condition or aggression, or the adopter's fitness to adopt.
SECTION 2. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended to
add Section 823.011 to read as follows:
Section 823.011. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this Act,
the following definitions shall apply:
(a) a "Public Sheltering Agency" is an animal shelter or
animal adoption group that receives city, county or state funding
and/or has a contract with a city, county or state under which it
accepts stray or owner-relinquished animals.
(b) a "Private Sheltering Agency" is an animal shelter or
animal adoption group which is designated as a non-profit under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code which does not
receive city, county or state funding or have a contract with the
city, county or state under which it accepts stray or
owner-relinquished animals and is not operated from a private
residence.
(c) a "Rescue Group" is a collaboration of individuals not
operated for a profit, whose primary stated purpose is animal
protection, which places into new homes stray and/or
owner-relinquished animals and/or animals who have been removed
from a public or private sheltering agency. Individual rescuers
who keep animals in their own homes but are not part of a larger
collaboration are not a rescue group for purposes of this Act.
(d) an "Animal" is any domestic non-human living creature
normally kept as a pet, or a feral cat.
(e) an "Impounded animal" is any animal who enters a public
or private sheltering agency or rescue group regardless of whether
the animal is a stray, owner-relinquished, seized, taken into
protective custody, or transferred from another private or public
sheltering agency.
(f) a "Stray animal" is any animal who is impounded without
a known owner present at impound who is voluntarily relinquishing
custody.
(g) a "Savable animal" is any animal who is either healthy
or treatable, and is not a vicious or dangerous dog.
(h) a "Healthy animal" is any animal who is not sick or
injured.
(i) a "Treatable animal" is any animal who is sick or
injured, whose prognosis for rehabilitation of that illness and/or
injury is excellent, good, fair, or guarded as determined by a
veterinarian licensed to practice in this state.
(j) a "Non-rehabilitatable animal" is any animal with
severe illness or injury whose prognosis for rehabilitation is
either poor or grave as determined by a veterinarian licensed to
practice in this state.
(k) an "Irremediably Suffering animal" is any animal with a
medical condition who has a poor or grave prognosis for being able
to live without severe, unremitting pain, as determined by a
veterinarian licensed to practice in this state.
(l) a "Feral Cat" is a cat who is free-roaming, unsocialized
to humans, and unowned.
(m) a "Feral Cat Caregiver" is someone who cares for feral
cats and has an interest in protecting the cats, but is not the
owner of those cats.
(n) an "Unweaned animal" is any neonatal animal who, in the
absence of his/her mother, requires supplemental bottle feeding by
humans in order to survive. In the case of puppies and kittens,
unweaned animals are animals who fit the above description and are
from 0 to 4 weeks of age.
(o) a "Litter of animals" includes two or more animals who
are under twelve weeks of age as determined by a veterinarian
licensed to practice medicine in this state, or by a veterinary
technician or veterinary assistant working under the direction of a
veterinarian licensed to practice medicine in this state.
(p) a "Vicious Dog" is a dog who exhibits aggression to
people even when the dog is not hungry, in pain, or frightened, and
whose prognosis for rehabilitation of that aggression is poor or
grave as determined by a trained behaviorist who is an expert on
canine behavior.
(q) a "Dangerous Dog" is a dog adjudicated to be vicious by a
court of competent jurisdiction and where all appeals of that
judicial determination have been unsuccessful.
SECTION 3. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended to
add Section 823.012 to read as follows:
Section 823.012. STERILIZATION REQUIREMENTS. (a) Except
as otherwise provided in this section, no public or private
sheltering agency or rescue group shall sell, adopt, or give away
to a new owner any dog, cat, rabbit, or other animal who has not been
spayed or neutered, except that this section shall not apply to
reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, and small animals such as mice
and hamsters, where the anesthesia or sterilization procedure is
likely to result in the animal's death.
(b) If a veterinarian licensed to practice veterinary
medicine in this state certifies that an animal is too sick or
injured to be spayed or neutered, or that it would otherwise be
detrimental to the health of the animal to be spayed or neutered,
the adopter or purchaser shall be exempt from the requirements of
this Section.
SECTION 4. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended by
adding Section 823.013 to read as follows:
Section 823.012. OFFENSES AND PENALTIES. (a) A person is
subject to civil penalties of not less than two hundred dollars
($200) or more than five hundred dollars ($500) if that person does
any of the following:
(1) falsifies any proof of spaying or neutering
submitted for the purpose of compliance with this Act;
(2) intentionally issues a check for insufficient
funds for any spaying or neutering deposit required under this Act;
(3) falsifies a signed letter from a veterinarian
submitted for the purpose of compliance with this Act, certifying
that an animal is too sick or injured to be spayed or neutered.
(b) An action for a penalty proposed under this section may
be commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction by the
administrator of the public or private animal sheltering agency or
rescue group from which the recipient obtained the animal who is the
subject of the violation.
(c) All penalties collected under this section shall be
retained by the agency bringing the action under subsection (b) to
be used solely for programs to spay or neuter animals.
SECTION 5. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended to
add Section 823.014 to read as follows:
Section 823.014. FERAL CATS. (a) Caretakers of feral cats
shall be exempted from any provision of law proscribing the feeding
of stray animals, requiring permits for the feeding of animals,
requiring the confinement of cats, or limiting the number of
animals a person can own, harbor, or have custody of, except that
nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the enforcement
of a statute having as its effect the prevention or punishment of
animal neglect or cruelty, so long as such enforcement is based on
the conditions of animals, and not based on the mere fact that a
person is feeding feral cats in a public or private location.
(b) In order to encourage spay/neuter of feral cats and to
protect cats, public or private sheltering agencies or rescue
groups shall not lend, rent, or otherwise provide traps to the
public to capture cats, except to a person for the purpose of
catching and reclaiming that person's wayward cat(s), to capture
injured or sick cats or cats otherwise in danger, to capture feral
kittens for purposes of taming and adoption, or, in the case of
feral cats, for purposes of spay/neuter and subsequent re-release;
(1) For purposes of this subsection, the location of
the cats, without more, does not constitute "otherwise in danger";
(2) A person is subject to civil penalties of not less
than two hundred dollars ($200) or more than five hundred dollars
($500) if that person uses a trap from a public or private
sheltering agency or rescue group for purposes other than those
enumerated above.
(c) An action for a penalty proposed under this section may
be commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction by the
administrator of the public or private animal sheltering agency or
rescue group from which the recipient obtained the trap that is the
subject of the violation.
(d) All penalties collected under this section shall be
retained by the agency bringing the action under subsection (c) to
be used solely for programs to spay or neuter animals.
SECTION 6. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended by
adding Section 823.015 to read as follows:
Section 823.015. HOLDING PERIODS. (a) The required
holding period for a stray animal impounded by any public or private
sheltering agency shall be at least five business days, not
including the day of impoundment, unless otherwise provided in this
section:
(1) Stray animals without any form of identification
and without a known owner shall be held for owner redemption during
the first two days of the holding period, not including the day of
impoundment, and shall be available for owner redemption, transfer,
and adoption for the remainder of the holding period;
(2) Stray animals may be adopted into new homes or
transferred to a rescue group or private sheltering agency for the
purpose of adoption after the first two days of the holding period,
not including the day of impoundment, except as provided in
subsections (a)(3) to (9);
(3) If a stray animal is impounded with a license tag,
microchip, or other form of identification, or belongs to a known
owner, the animal shall be held for owner redemption during the
first three days of the holding period, not including the day of
impoundment, and shall be available for owner redemption, transfer,
and adoption for the remainder of the holding period;
(4) Litters of animals or individual members of a
litter of animals, including the nursing mother, and unweaned
animals may be transferred to a private sheltering agency or rescue
group for the purpose of adoption immediately after impound;
(5) Individual members of litters of animals who are
at least six weeks of age, including the mother, may be adopted
immediately upon impound;
(6) A feral cat caregiver has the same right of
redemption for feral cats as an owner of a pet cat, without
conferring ownership of the cat(s) on the caregiver;
(7) Irremediably suffering animals may be euthanized
without delay, upon a determination made in writing and signed by a
veterinarian licensed to practice medicine in this state. That
certification shall be made available for free public inspection
for no less than three years;
(8) Symptomatic dogs with confirmed cases of
parvovirus or cats with confirmed cases of panleukopenia may be
euthanized without delay, upon a certification made in writing and
signed by a veterinarian licensed to practice medicine in this
state that the prognosis is poor even with supportive care. That
certification shall be made available for free public inspection
for no less than three years;
(9) Unweaned animals impounded without their mother
may be killed so long as the shelter has exhausted all efforts to
place the animals in foster care, made an emergency appeal under the
requirements of Section 9, and certified that it is unable to
provide the needed care and feeding in its facility. That
certification shall also state in clear and definitive terms why
the agency is unable to place the animals in foster care, which
private sheltering agencies and rescue groups it made an appeal to,
and what would be required in the future in order to provide the
needed care and feeding in foster care or its facility, and what
steps are being taken to do so. This certification shall be made in
writing, signed by the director of the agency or by a veterinarian,
and be made available for free public inspection for no less than
three years.
SECTION 7. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 823.016 to read as follows:
Section 823.016. SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATED TO
OWNER-RELINQUISHED ANIMALS. (a) The required holding period for
an owner relinquished animal impounded by public or private
sheltering agencies shall be the same as that for stray animals and
applies to all owner relinquished animals, except as follows:
(1) Any owner-relinquished animal that is impounded
shall be held for adoption or for transfer to a private sheltering
agency or rescue group for the purpose of adoption for the entirety
of the holding period;
(2) Owner-relinquished animals may be adopted into new
homes or transferred to a private sheltering agency or rescue group
for the purpose of adoption at any time after impoundment.
(b) When an animal is surrendered or brought to a shelter to
be killed at the owner's request, the animal shall be subject to the
same holding periods and the same requirements of all owner
relinquished animals notwithstanding the request.
(c) An animal seized by an officer of a public or private
sheltering agency under the provisions of a state statute having as
its effect the prevention or punishment of animal neglect or
cruelty, or seized under the provision of state dangerous dog laws
or under state quarantine or disease control regulations, shall be
impounded and held as consistent with the requirements of those
laws, except that holding periods under this Chapter shall be
observed to the maximum extent practicable.
SECTION 8. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 823.021 to read as follows:
Section 823.021. ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS AND DUTIES. (a) All
public and private sheltering agencies that kill animals shall
maintain a registry of organizations willing to accept animals for
the purposes of adoption, as follows:
(1) All public or private sheltering agencies, and
rescue groups designated as non-profits by Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code, shall be immediately placed on this registry
upon their request, regardless of the organizations' geographical
location or any other factor except as described under subsection
(a)(5);
(2) The public or private sheltering agency may, but
is not required to, include on the registry any rescue groups that
are not designated as non-profits under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code;
(3) The registry shall include the following
information as provided by the registered organization:
organization name, mailing address, and telephone number; website
and e-mail address, if any; emergency contact information for the
organization; the types of animals about whom the organization
wishes to be contacted, including species-type and breed; and
whether or not the organization is willing and able to care for
unweaned animals, sick or injured animals, and/or feral or
aggressive animals;
(4) All public and private sheltering agencies shall
seek organizations to include on the registry;
(5) A public or private sheltering agency may refuse
to include an organization on the registry, or delete it from the
registry, until such time as this is no longer the case, if any of
the organization's current directors and/or officers have been
convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of a crime
consisting of cruelty to animals or neglect of animals; or if such
charges are pending against any of the organization's current
directors or officers; or if that organization or its current
directors or officers are constrained by a court order or legally
binding agreement that prevents the organization from taking in or
keeping animals. An agency may require an organization to disclose
any or all convictions, charges, and legal impediments described in
this subsection;
(6) A public or private sheltering agency may require
that registered organizations provide the following summary
information on no more than a monthly basis: the total number of
animals the organization has taken from the agency who have been
adopted, died, were transferred, were killed, and are still under
the organization's care. This information may be provided in an
informal format, such as via electronic mail;
(7) A public or private sheltering agency shall not
demand additional information, other than that described in this
section, as a prerequisite for including an organization on the
registry or for continuing to maintain that organization on the
registry.
(b) No public or private sheltering agency may kill an
animal unless and until the agency has notified, or made a
reasonable attempt to notify, all organizations on the registry
described in subsection (a) that have indicated a willingness to
take an animal of that type.
SECTION 9. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 823.022 to read as follows:
Section 823.022. LOST ANIMALS. (a) All public and private
sheltering agencies shall take appropriate action to ensure that
all animals are checked for all currently acceptable methods of
identification, including microchips, identification tags, and
licenses. All public and private sheltering agencies shall
maintain continuously updated lists of animals reported lost, and
match these lost reports with animals reported found and animals in
the shelter, and shall also post all stray animals on the Internet
with sufficient detail to allow them to be recognized and claimed by
their owners. If a possible owner is identified, the agencies shall
undertake reasonable efforts to notify the owner or caretaker of
the whereabouts of the animal and any procedures available for the
lawful recovery of the animal. These efforts shall include, but are
not limited to, notifying the possible owner by telephone, mail,
and personal service to the last known address. Upon the owner's or
caretaker's initiation of recovery procedures, the agencies shall
retain custody of the animal for a reasonable period of time to
allow for completion of the recovery process. Efforts to locate or
contact an owner or caretaker, and communications with persons
claiming to be owners or caretakers, shall be recorded and be made
available for free public inspection for no less than three years.
SECTION 10. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended
by adding Section 823.024 to read as follows:
Section 823.024. LIMITATION ON ADOPTION CRITERIA. (a) No
public or private sheltering agency shall ban, bar, limit or
otherwise obstruct the adoption of any animal based on arbitrary
criteria, such as breed, age, color, or any other criteria except as
to the individual animal's medical condition and aggression, or the
adopter's fitness to adopt.
SECTION 11. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended
by adding Section 823.025 to read as follows:
Section 823.025. REQUIRED SERVICES. (a) Every public
sheltering agency shall provide the following public services:
(1) low-cost spay/neuter services for animals;
(2) volunteer opportunities for people to assist the
shelter, including fostering animals, socializing animals,
assisting with adoptions, and otherwise helping in the operations
of the shelter;
(3) programs to assist people in overcoming situations
that may cause them to relinquish or abandon their animals,
including, but not limited to, programs that address animal
behavior problems, medical conditions, and environmental
conditions.
(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an agency from
enacting reasonable rules to facilitate the orderly operation of
these programs, so long as the rules are designed to meet the goals
of this Act.
SECTION 12. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended
by adding Section 823.030 to read as follows:
Section 823.025. PROHIBITION ON ADOPTION FOR CERTAIN
PURPOSES. (a) No person shall procure or use any living animal
from a public or private sheltering agency or rescue group for
medical or biological teaching, research or study. No hospital,
educational or commercial institution, laboratory, or animal
dealer, whether or not such dealer is licensed by the United States
Department of Agriculture, shall purchase or accept any living
animal from a public or private sheltering agency, rescue group,
commercial kennel, kennel, peace officer, or animal control
officer.
(b) No public or private sheltering agency, rescue group,
commercial kennel, kennel, peace officer, or animal control officer
shall sell, adopt, transfer, or give away any living animal to a
person, hospital, educational or commercial institution,
laboratory, or dealer in animals, whether or not such dealer is
licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture, for
purposes of medical or biological teaching, research or study.
SECTION 13. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended
by adding Section 823.031 to read as follows:
Section 823.031. PRECONDITIONS FOR EUTHANASIA. (a) No
savable animal in a public or private sheltering agency shall be
killed simply because the holding period has expired. Before an
animal is killed, all of the following conditions must be met:
(1) there are no empty cages, kennels, or other living
environments in the shelter;
(2) the animal cannot share a cage or kennel with
another animal;
(3) a foster home is not available;
(4) organizations listed on the registry described in
Section 9 are not willing to accept the animal;
(5) the animal is not a feral cat subject to
sterilization and release; and
(6) the director of the agency certifies he or she has
no other alternative, or the director certifies that failure to
euthanize the animal would constitute an unsustainable burden on
the agency.
(b) The determination that all conditions of subsection (a)
have been met shall be made in writing, signed by the director of
the agency, and be made available for free public inspection for no
less than three years.
SECTION 14. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended
by adding Section 823.032 to read as follows:
Section 823.032. EUTHANASIA PROCEDURES. (a) All animals
impounded by a public or private sheltering agency or rescue group
shall be killed only when necessary and consistent with the
requirements of this Act, and the killing shall be accomplished by
lethal intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbital, except as
follows:
(1) intraperitoneal injections may be used only under
the direction of a licensed veterinarian, and only when intravenous
injection is not possible for infant animals, companion animals
other than cats and dogs, feral cats, or in comatose animals with
depressed vascular function.
(2) intracardiac injections may be used only when
intravenous injection is not possible for animals who are
completely unconscious or comatose, and then only under the
direction of a veterinarian.
(b) No animal shall be allowed to witness any other animal
being killed or being tranquilized/sedated for the purpose of being
killed or see the bodies of animals which have already been killed.
(c) Animals shall be sedated/tranquilized as necessary to
minimize their stress or discomfort, or in the case of vicious
animals, to ensure staff safety, except that neuromuscular blocking
agents shall not be used.
(d) Following their injection, animals shall be lowered to
the surface on which they are being held and shall not be permitted
to drop or otherwise collapse without support.
(e) An animal may not be left unattended between the time
procedures to kill the animal are commenced and the time death
occurs, nor may the body be disposed of until death is verified.
(f) Verification of death shall be confirmed for each animal
in at least two of the following ways:
(1) by lack of heartbeat, verified by a stethoscope;
(2) by lack of respiration, verified by observation;
(3) by pale, bluish gums and tongue, verified by
observation; and
(4) by lack of eye response, verified if lid does not
blink when eye is touched and pupil remains dilated when a light is
shined on it.
(g) The room in which animals are killed shall be cleaned
and regularly disinfected as necessary.
(h) A veterinarian licensed to practice veterinary medicine
in this state or a trained euthanasia technician shall perform the
euthanasia procedures.
SECTION 15. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended
by adding Section 823.035 to read as follows:
Section 823.035. ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. (a)
All public or private sheltering agencies shall prepare a written
monthly summary by the tenth day of the month that includes the
following information by species-type:
(1) the number of animals impounded during the
previous month;
(2) the number of impounded animals sterilized and/or
sterilized by contract with participating outside private
veterinarians during the previous month;
(3) the number of animals who were killed by the
agency, at the agency's direction, with the agency's permission,
and/or by a representative of the agency during the previous month;
(4) the number of animals who died, were lost, and/or
were stolen while in the direct or constructive care of such agency
during the previous month;
(5) the number of animals who were adopted or returned
to prior owners during the previous month;
(6) the number of animals who were transferred to
other organizations for adoption during the previous month; and
(7) the number of animals impounded into the reporting
agency from outside the reporting agency's normal city or county
service area during the previous month.
(b) An agency shall retain copies of the summaries required
by (a) for at least three calendar years and shall make such
summaries available for public inspection.
SECTION 16. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended
by adding Section 823.037 to read as follows:
Section 823.037. ENFORCEMENT AND REMEDIES. Any public or
private sheltering agency or rescue group may compel a public or
private sheltering agency to follow the mandates of this Act
through a lawsuit asking a court of competent jurisdiction to grant
declaratory and injunctive relief including, but not limited to:
restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, injunctions, writs of
mandamus and prohibition, and other appropriate remedies at law
which will compel compliance with this Act.
SECTION 17. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code is amended
by adding Section 823.038 to read as follows:
Section 823.038. SEVERABILITY. (a) If the provisions of
any article, section, subsection, paragraph, subdivision or clause
of this Act shall be adjudged invalid by a court or other tribunal
of competent jurisdiction, such determination, order, or judgment
shall not affect or invalidate the remainder of any article,
section, subsection, paragraph, subdivision or clause of this Act.
Any such invalidity shall be confined in its operation to the
clause, sentence, paragraph, section or article thereof directly
involved in the controversy in which such determination, order, or
judgment shall have been rendered.
SECTION 18. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.