HEALTH & SAFETY CODE
TITLE 10. HEALTH AND SAFETY OF ANIMALS
CHAPTER 821. TREATMENT AND DISPOSITION OF ANIMALS
SUBCHAPTER A. TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
§ 821.001. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "animal"
includes every living dumb creature.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 821.002. TREATMENT OF IMPOUNDED ANIMALS. (a) A
person who impounds or causes the impoundment of an animal under
state law or municipal ordinance shall supply the animal with
sufficient wholesome food and water during its confinement.
(b) If an animal impounded under Subsection (a) continues to
be without necessary food and water for more than 12 successive
hours, any person may enter the pound or corral as often as
necessary to supply the animal with necessary food and water. That
person may recover the reasonable cost of the food and water from
the owner of the animal. The animal is not exempt from levy and sale
on execution of a judgment issued to recover those costs.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 821.003. TREATMENT OF LIVE BIRDS. (a) This section
applies to a person who receives live birds for transportation or
for confinement:
(1) on wagons or stands;
(2) by a person who owns a grocery store, commission
house, or other market house; or
(3) by any other person if the birds are to be closely
confined.
(b) The person shall immediately place the birds in coops,
crates, or cages that are made of open slats or wire on at least
three sides and that are of a height so that the birds can stand
upright without touching the top.
(c) The person shall keep clean water and suitable food in
troughs or other receptacles in the coops, crates, or cages. The
troughs or other receptacles must be easily accessible to the
confined birds and must be placed so that the birds cannot defile
their contents.
(d) The person shall keep the coops, crates, or cages in a
clean and wholesome condition and may place in each coop, crate, or
cage only the number of birds that have room to move around and to
stand without crowding each other.
(e) The person may not expose the birds to undue heat or cold
and shall immediately remove all injured, diseased, or dead birds
from the coops, crates, or cages.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 821.004. KNOWLEDGE OR ACTS OF CORPORATE AGENT OR
EMPLOYEE. The knowledge and acts of an agent or employee of a
corporation in regard to an animal transported, owned, or used by or
in the custody of the corporation are the knowledge and acts of the
corporation.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
SUBCHAPTER B. DISPOSITION OF CRUELLY TREATED ANIMALS
§ 821.021. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "cruelly
treated" includes tortured, seriously overworked, unreasonably
abandoned, unreasonably deprived of necessary food, care, or
shelter, cruelly confined, or caused to fight with another animal.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 821.0211. ADDITIONAL DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"magistrate" means any officer as defined in Article 2.09, Code of
Criminal Procedure, except that the term does not include justices
of the supreme court, judges of the court of criminal appeals, or
courts of appeals, judges or masters of statutory probate courts,
or judges or masters of district courts that give preference to
family law matters or family district courts under Subchapter D,
Chapter 24, Government Code.
Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1043, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 821.022. SEIZURE OF CRUELLY TREATED ANIMAL. (a) If a
peace officer or an officer who has responsibility for animal
control in a county or municipality has reason to believe that an
animal has been or is being cruelly treated, the officer may apply
to a justice court or magistrate in the county or to a municipal
court in the municipality in which the animal is located for a
warrant to seize the animal.
(b) On a showing of probable cause to believe that the
animal has been or is being cruelly treated, the court or magistrate
shall issue the warrant and set a time within 10 calendar days of
the date of issuance for a hearing in the appropriate justice court
or municipal court to determine whether the animal has been cruelly
treated.
(c) The officer executing the warrant shall cause the animal
to be impounded and shall give written notice to the owner of the
animal of the time and place of the hearing.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended
by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 387, § 1, eff. June 7, 1991; Acts
2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1043, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 821.023. HEARING; ORDER OF DISPOSITION OR RETURN OF
ANIMAL. (a) A finding in a court of competent jurisdiction that
the owner of an animal is guilty of an offense under Section 42.09,
Penal Code, involving the animal is prima facie evidence at a
hearing authorized by Section 821.022 that the animal has been
cruelly treated.
(b) A statement of an owner made at a hearing provided for
under this subchapter is not admissible in a trial of the owner for
an offense under Section 42.09, Penal Code.
(c) Each interested party is entitled to an opportunity to
present evidence at the hearing.
(d) If the court finds that the animal's owner has cruelly
treated the animal, the owner shall be divested of ownership of the
animal, and the court shall:
(1) order a public sale of the animal by auction;
(2) order the animal given to a nonprofit animal
shelter, pound, or society for the protection of animals; or
(3) order the animal humanely destroyed if the court
decides that the best interests of the animal or that the public
health and safety would be served by doing so.
(e) A court that finds that an animal's owner has cruelly
treated the animal shall order the owner to pay all court costs,
including costs of:
(1) investigation;
(2) expert witnesses;
(3) housing and caring for the animal during its
impoundment;
(4) conducting any public sale ordered by the court;
and
(5) humanely destroying the animal if destruction is
ordered by the court.
(f) The court may order that an animal disposed of under
Subsection (d)(1) or (d)(2) be spayed or neutered at the cost of the
receiving party.
(g) The court shall order the animal returned to the owner
if the court does not find that the animal's owner has cruelly
treated the animal.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended
by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 157, § 1, eff. Aug. 26, 1991; Acts
1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, § 14.43, 14.44, eff. Sept. 1, 1995;
Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1043, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 821.024. SALE OR DISPOSITION OF CRUELLY TREATED
ANIMAL. (a) Notice of an auction ordered under this subchapter
must be posted on a public bulletin board where other public notices
are posted for the county or municipality. At the auction, a bid by
the former owner of a cruelly treated animal or the owner's
representative may not be accepted.
(b) Proceeds from the sale of the animal shall be applied
first to any costs owed by the former owner under Section
821.023(e). The officer conducting the auction shall pay any excess
proceeds to the justice or municipal court ordering the auction.
The court shall return the excess proceeds to the former owner of
the animal.
(c) If the officer is unable to sell the animal at auction,
the officer may cause the animal to be humanely destroyed or may
give the animal to a nonprofit animal shelter, pound, or society for
the protection of animals.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended
by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 387, § 2, eff. June 7, 1991; Acts
2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1043, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 821.025. APPEAL. (a) An owner of an animal 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 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.
(b) While an appeal under this section is pending, the
animal may not be:
(1) sold or given away as provided by Sections 821.023
and 821.024; or
(2) destroyed, except under circumstances which would
require the humane destruction of the animal to prevent undue pain
to or suffering of the animal.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended
by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1043, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
SUBCHAPTER C. EUTHANASIA OF ANIMALS
§ 821.051. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Animal" has the meaning assigned by Section
821.001.
(2) "Animal shelter" means a facility that collects,
impounds, or keeps stray, homeless, abandoned, or unwanted animals.
(3) "Board" means the Texas Board of Health.
(4) "Department" means the Texas Department of Health.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 30, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 821.052. METHODS OF EUTHANASIA. (a) A person may
euthanize a dog or cat in the custody of an animal shelter only by
administering sodium pentobarbital or commercially compressed
carbon monoxide.
(b) A person may euthanize all other animals in the custody
of an animal shelter, including birds and reptiles, only in
accordance with the applicable methods, recommendations, and
procedures set forth in the 2000 Report of the American Veterinary
Medical Association Panel on Euthanasia as modified or superseded
by a subsequent report of the American Veterinary Medical
Association Panel on Euthanasia that is approved by the board.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 30, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 821.053. REQUIREMENTS FOR USE OF SODIUM
PENTOBARBITAL.
Text of section effective January 1, 2005
(a) The board by rule shall establish the requirements and
procedures for administering sodium pentobarbital to euthanize an
animal in the custody of an animal shelter.
(b) A person may administer sodium pentobarbital to
euthanize an animal in the custody of an animal shelter only in
accordance with the requirements and procedures established by
board rule.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 30, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2005.
§ 821.054. REQUIREMENTS FOR USE OF COMMERCIALLY
COMPRESSED CARBON MONOXIDE.
Text of section effective January 1, 2005
(a) The board by rule shall establish:
(1) standards for a carbon monoxide chamber used to
euthanize an animal in the custody of an animal shelter; and
(2) requirements and procedures for administering
commercially compressed carbon monoxide to euthanize an animal in
the custody of an animal shelter.
(b) A person administering commercially compressed carbon
monoxide to euthanize an animal in the custody of an animal shelter:
(1) may use only a carbon monoxide chamber that meets
the standards established by board rule; and
(2) may administer the commercially compressed carbon
monoxide only in accordance with the requirements and procedures
established by board rule.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 30, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2005.
§ 821.055. TRAINING FOR EUTHANASIA TECHNICIANS.
Text of section effective January 1, 2005
(a) A person may not euthanize an animal in the custody of an
animal shelter unless the person has successfully completed, not
more than three years before the date the person euthanizes the
animal, a training course in the proper methods and techniques for
euthanizing animals. The training course curriculum must include:
(1) the pharmacology, proper administration, and
storage of euthanasia solutions;
(2) federal and state law regulating the storage and
accountability of euthanasia solutions;
(3) euthanasia technician stress management;
(4) proper restraint and handling of an animal during
euthanasia;
(5) the procedures for administering commercially
compressed carbon monoxide to an animal;
(6) techniques for verifying an animal's death; and
(7) the proper disposal of a euthanized animal.
(b) The department must approve the sponsors and curriculum
of the training course required by this section.
(c) This section does not apply to a person licensed to
practice veterinary medicine in this state.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an employee of an
animal shelter is not required to have successfully completed the
training course before the 120th day following the date of initial
employment.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 30, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2005.
§ 821.056. OFFENSE AND PENALTY. (a) A person commits
an offense if the person violates this subchapter or a board rule
adopted under this subchapter.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 30, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 821.057. INJUNCTION. A court of competent
jurisdiction, on the petition of any person, may prohibit by
injunction the substantial violation of this subchapter or a board
rule adopted under this subchapter.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 30, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
