Animal cruelty is not just about animals. The heinous abuse of companion animals occurs in family violence situations, criminal enterprises, and in local neighborhoods. The link between animal abuse and human violence is real, and our society suffers when animals suffer.
Laws and local ordinances are useless unless they are enforceable. Previously, municipal enforcement of violations of animal care and treatment ordinances usually required cities to follow the same procedures as those for violations of criminal laws.
In 2011, THLN was instrumental in the passage of HB 963, which allows government authorities to seize cruelly treated animals and remove them from abusive situations. A survey among four leading animal rescue organizations in Texas found that to date more than 20,000 animals were removed from inhumane conditions where they were sufferi...
When performed properly, euthanasia by injection of sodium pentobarbital is the safest, most humane method, and the least stressful to the animal. Historically, the lack of access to these drugs has been an issue for shelters. In 2013, the Texas Humane Legislation Network passed a bill that prohibits the use of carbon monoxide gas as ...
Law enforcement officers routinely encounter dogs in the line of duty. In fact, roughly one in three calls involves an interaction with a dog. The vast majority of law enforcement officers have no training on canine encounters and this is the primary reason so many dogs are killed unnecessarily by law enforcement officers. According...
Some of the amendments to the State Animal Cruelty Statute that THLN has been involved with include: A bill that increased the penalty for a third animal cruelty offense from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony (SB 143, passed 1997). A bill that increased the penalty for aggravated acts of animal cruelty from a Class A mi...
Thanks largely to THLN, this law (HB 3250, passed 1997) created a new "animal friendly" fund through the sale of special motor vehicle license plates. Proceeds from the fund provide free and low-cost dog & cat spay/neutering to programs across the state. The $3M allocated to the fund to date has resulted in the sterilization of 5...
Some of the humane animal shelter regulations which THLN helped establish include: Humane regulations for non-quarantine animal shelters. Prior to 1989, most shelters across the state had no regulations addressing feeding, cleaning, veterinary care, or separation of animals during impoundment as to species, size, or whether an animal ...
THLN worked closely with the Texas Animal Control Association and the Humane Society of the United States in passing HB 1043 to strengthen the cockfighting laws in Texas. In addition to cockfighting itself, HB 1043 outlaws promoting a cockfight; allowing one's property to be used for a cockfight; training fighting birds; and attending...
THLN successfully opposed the proposed regulation of "dangerous" pets (SB 349, 2007). The subject bill was far too broad and gave no criteria for what is or is not a dangerous pet. The "dangerous" designation would have been left to the discretion of the county commissioners' court and could have lead to abuses of power and to breed ...
