By: Estes S.B. No. 479
(In the Senate - Filed February 1, 2011; February 14, 2011,
read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture and Rural
Affairs; March 17, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 3, Nays 0; March 17, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to limiting the liability of certain persons for farm
animal activities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 87, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 87. LIABILITY ARISING FROM FARM ANIMAL
[EQUINE] ACTIVITIES OR LIVESTOCK SHOWS
SECTION 2. Section 87.001, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by amending Subdivisions (1), (3) through (6), and
(9) and adding Subdivision (2-a) to read as follows:
(1) "Engages in a farm animal [an equine] activity"
means riding, handling, training, driving, assisting in the medical
treatment of, being a passenger on, or assisting a participant or
sponsor with a farm [an equine] animal. The term includes
management of a show involving farm [equine] animals. The term does
not include being a spectator at a farm animal [an equine] activity
unless the spectator is in an unauthorized area and in immediate
proximity to the farm animal [equine] activity.
(2-a) "Farm animal" means:
(A) an equine animal;
(B) a cow, bull, ox, or other bovine;
(C) a sheep or goat;
(D) a pig or hog;
(E) a ratite, including an ostrich, rhea, or emu;
or
(F) a chicken or other fowl.
(3) "Farm animal ["Equine] activity" means:
(A) a farm [an equine] animal show, fair,
competition, performance, rodeo, event, or parade that involves any
farm animal [breed of equine animal and any equine discipline,
including dressage, hunter and jumper horse shows, grand prix
jumping, three-day events, combined training, driving, pulling,
cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English and Western performance
riding, endurance trail riding and Western games, and hunting];
(B) [equine] training or teaching activities
involving a farm animal;
(C) boarding a farm animal, including daily care
[equine animals];
(D) riding, inspecting, or evaluating a farm [an
equine] animal belonging to another, without regard to whether the
owner receives monetary consideration or other thing of value for
the use of the farm [equine] animal or permits a prospective
purchaser of the farm [equine] animal to ride, inspect, or evaluate
the farm [equine] animal;
(E) informal farm animal [equine] activity,
including a ride, trip, or hunt that is sponsored by a farm animal
[an equine] activity sponsor;
(F) placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine
animal; [or]
(G) examining or administering medical treatment
to a farm animal by a veterinarian; or
(H) without regard to whether the participants
are compensated, rodeos and single event competitions, including
team roping, calf roping, and single steer roping.
(4) "Farm animal ["Equine] activity sponsor" means:
(A) a person or group who sponsors, organizes, or
provides the facilities for a farm animal [an equine] activity,
including [equine] facilities for a pony club, 4-H club, hunt club,
riding club, therapeutic riding program, or high school or college
class, program, or activity, without regard to whether the person
operates for profit; or
(B) an operator of, instructor at, or promoter
for [equine] facilities, including a stable, clubhouse, pony ride
string, fair, or arena at which a farm animal [an equine] activity
is held.
(5) "Farm animal ["Equine] professional" means a
person engaged for compensation:
(A) to instruct a participant or rent to a
participant a farm [an equine] animal for the purpose of riding,
driving, or being a passenger on the farm [equine] animal; [or]
(B) to rent equipment or tack to a participant;
(C) to examine or administer medical treatment to
a farm animal as a veterinarian; or
(D) to provide veterinarian or farrier services.
(6) "Livestock animal" means:
(A) an animal raised for human consumption; or
(B) a farm [an equine] animal.
(9) "Participant" means:
(A) with respect to a farm animal [an equine]
activity, a person who engages in the activity, without regard to
whether the person is an amateur or professional or whether the
person pays for the activity or participates in the activity for
free; and
(B) with respect to a livestock show, a person
who registers for and is allowed by a livestock show sponsor to
compete in a livestock show by showing an animal on a competitive
basis, or a person who assists that person.
SECTION 3. Section 87.003, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 87.003. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. Except as provided
by Section 87.004, any person, including a farm animal [an equine]
activity sponsor, farm animal [equine] professional, livestock
show participant, or livestock show sponsor, is not liable for
property damage or damages arising from the personal injury or
death of a participant in a farm animal [an equine] activity or
livestock show if the property damage, injury, or death results
from the dangers or conditions that are an inherent risk of a farm
animal [an equine] activity or the showing of an animal on a
competitive basis in a livestock show, including:
(1) the propensity of a farm animal [an equine] or
livestock animal to behave in ways that may result in personal
injury or death to a person on or around it;
(2) the unpredictability of a farm animal's [an
equine] or livestock animal's reaction to sound, a sudden movement,
or an unfamiliar object, person, or other animal;
(3) with respect to farm animal [equine] activities
involving equine animals, certain land conditions and hazards,
including surface and subsurface conditions;
(4) a collision with another animal or an object; or
(5) the potential of a participant to act in a
negligent manner that may contribute to injury to the participant
or another, including failing to maintain control over a farm
animal [the equine] or livestock animal or not acting within the
participant's ability.
SECTION 4. Section 87.004, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 87.004. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. A
person, including a farm animal [an equine] activity sponsor, farm
animal [equine] professional, livestock show participant, or
livestock show sponsor, is liable for property damage or damages
arising from the personal injury or death caused by a participant in
a farm animal [an equine] activity or livestock show if:
(1) the injury or death was caused by faulty equipment
or tack used in the farm animal [equine] activity or livestock show,
the person provided the equipment or tack, and the person knew or
should have known that the equipment or tack was faulty;
(2) the person provided the farm animal [equine] or
livestock animal and the person did not make a reasonable and
prudent effort to determine the ability of the participant to
engage safely in the farm animal [equine] activity or livestock
show and determine the ability of the participant to safely manage
the farm animal [equine] or livestock animal, taking into account
the participant's representations of ability;
(3) the injury or death was caused by a dangerous
latent condition of land for which warning signs, written notices,
or verbal warnings were not conspicuously posted or provided to the
participant, and the land was owned, leased, or otherwise under the
control of the person at the time of the injury or death and the
person knew of the dangerous latent condition;
(4) the person committed an act or omission with
wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and
that act or omission caused the injury;
(5) the person intentionally caused the property
damage, injury, or death; or
(6) with respect to a livestock show, the injury or
death occurred as a result of an activity connected with the
livestock show and the person invited or otherwise allowed the
injured or deceased person to participate in the activity and the
injured or deceased person was not a participant as defined by
Section 87.001(9)(B).
SECTION 5. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 87.005,
Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A farm animal [An equine] professional shall post and
maintain a sign that contains the warning contained in Subsection
(c) if the professional manages or controls a stable, corral, or
arena where the professional conducts a farm animal [an equine]
activity. The professional must post the sign in a clearly visible
location on or near the stable, corral, or arena.
(b) A farm animal [An equine] professional shall include the
warning contained in Subsection (c) in every written contract that
the professional enters into with a participant for professional
services, instruction, or the rental of equipment or tack or a farm
[an equine] animal. The warning must be included without regard to
whether the contract involves farm animal [equine] activities on or
off the location or site of the business of the farm animal [equine]
professional. The warning must be clearly readable.
(c) The warning posted by a farm animal [an equine]
professional under this section must be as follows:
WARNING
UNDER TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 87, CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES
CODE), A FARM ANIMAL [AN EQUINE] PROFESSIONAL IS NOT
LIABLE FOR AN INJURY TO OR THE DEATH OF A PARTICIPANT IN
FARM ANIMAL [EQUINE] ACTIVITIES RESULTING FROM THE
INHERENT RISKS OF FARM ANIMAL [EQUINE] ACTIVITIES.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before that
date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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