By: Rosenthal, Ortega, Buckley H.B. No. 921
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the intake and disposition records of animal shelters
and releasing agencies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 823, Health and Safety
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 823. ANIMAL SHELTERS AND RELEASING AGENCIES
SECTION 2. Section 823.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (5) to read as follows:
(5) "Releasing agency" has the meaning assigned by
Section 828.001.
SECTION 3. Section 823.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 823.002. EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN COUNTIES, CLINICS, AND
FACILITIES. Except as provided by Sections 823.003(e) and
823.010, this [This] chapter does not apply to:
(1) a county having a population of less than 75,000;
(2) a veterinary medicine clinic; or
(3) a livestock commission facility.
SECTION 4. Section 823.003(e), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall [may] require each person operating an
animal shelter or releasing agency to keep records as required by
Section 823.010. The executive commissioner may require the
shelter or agency [of the date and disposition of animals in its
custody,] to maintain the records on the business premises of the
[animal] shelter or agency[,] and to make the records available for
inspection at reasonable times.
SECTION 5. Chapter 823, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 823.010 to read as follows:
Sec. 823.010. INTAKE AND DISPOSITION RECORDS FOR ANIMAL
SHELTERS AND RELEASING AGENCIES. (a) Each animal shelter,
including a shelter operated by a municipality, or releasing agency
operated in this state shall prepare and maintain records on the
intake and disposition of animals in the care of the shelter or
agency, including:
(1) the total number of live animals taken in by the
shelter or agency, categorized by:
(A) species, as dog, cat, or other; and
(B) age, as up to five months or adult;
(2) the reason an animal was taken in by the shelter or
agency, including whether the animal was:
(A) surrendered by the animal's owner;
(B) surrendered by the animal's owner and the
owner requested that the animal be euthanized;
(C) impounded as a stray animal or an animal at
large;
(D) confiscated;
(E) transferred to the shelter or agency from a
location in this state;
(F) transferred to the shelter or agency from a
location outside this state; or
(G) born in the shelter or under the care of the
agency;
(3) the number of animals at the shelter or agency on
the last day of each month, categorized by species, as dog, cat, or
other, and age, as up to five months or adult; and
(4) the disposition of each animal taken in by the
shelter or agency, categorized by species, as dog, cat, or other,
and age, as up to five months or adult, including whether the
animal:
(A) was adopted;
(B) was reclaimed by the animal's owner;
(C) died in the shelter or under the care of the
agency;
(D) was transferred from the shelter or agency;
(E) was euthanized by the shelter or agency on a
decision made by the shelter or agency;
(F) was euthanized at the owner's request;
(G) was returned to the field as part of a
sterilization program; or
(H) was lost or stolen while in the shelter's or
agency's care.
(b) An animal shelter or releasing agency shall monthly
prepare the records required by Subsection (a).
(c) An animal shelter or releasing agency shall maintain
records prepared under Subsection (a) until at least the third
anniversary of the date the record was prepared.
(d) An animal shelter or releasing agency shall make the
records required by this section available to the public by:
(1) posting the records on the shelter's,
municipality's, or agency's Internet website; or
(2) for a shelter, municipality, or agency that does
not have an Internet website, making the records available in a form
regularly maintained by the shelter, municipality, or agency for
inspection and copying.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an animal placed at or disposed of by an animal shelter or releasing
agency or counted in the shelter's or agency's animal total on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.