Here is a copy of the letter that Gigi Ray of the Texas Humane Legislation Network suggests people send to their Texas representatives and senators to insure that they pay attention to strengthening the animal cruelty laws in Texas.
(THLN Members: Since the election is less than two weeks away, we suggest you fax this letter to district offices or campaign headquarters. Their fax numbers should be listed on their web sites.)
(Date)
The Honorable____(if an officeholder)
Address
City, TX
Dear (Senator/Representative/or candidate’s name)
I would like to make you aware of an animal protection measure that -- if passed into law in the 2005 legislative session -- would make major improvements in our district and county attorneys’ abilities to prosecute people who commit heinous acts of violence against animals.
The Texas Animal Anti-Cruelty Statute (Texas Penal Code 42.09) as it stands now, offers a number of “loopholes” that have enabled dozens of animal abusers and killers to walk away from their crimes unpunished.
The Texas Humane Legislation Network recognizes that hunting, fishing, trapping, wildlife management, animal husbandry, and farming and ranching practices are a way of life in Texas. However, protections in the law for these common practices, as well for normal pest control activities and scientific research, should not allow acts of cruelty and torture of innocent creatures to go unpunished.
In fact, did you know that in Texas it is not a violation of our animal cruelty statute to:
· Kill your own puppy with a lawnmower? In Bell County, the owner of a puppy, irritated because the puppy kept trying to play with him while he was mowing the lawn, lifted the power mower and killed the dog with the moving blades. The man was not prosecuted because it is not an offense under the current Texas animal anti-cruelty statute to kill one’s own animal, no matter how cruelly or by what means.
· Stomp a kitten to death? In Harris County, a man killed several kittens by stomping on their heads while threatening his mother that he would do the same to her. The mother had been bringing the kittens in her house to feed them, but did not claim them as her own. In this case, the difficulty in prosecution was the lack of evidence that the kittens’ stomping deaths amounted to torture and that although the kittens were fed by the perpetrator’s mother, they did not necessarily “belong” to her, thus no prosecution grounds were available under Section 42.09(a)(5) for killing an animal “belonging to another.” Animal cruelty charges were dropped.
· Brutally torture a befriended stray cat? In March 2001, two college athletes were arrested in the possession of a severed, skinned cat’s head, a pellet gun, a knife and a golf club with blood and cat hair on it. The cat was a stray who hung around a fast food restaurant in Waco and who had been befriended, fed and named “Queso” by a restaurant employee. Queso was shot by one of the men on the patio of the restaurant. The two men then put Queso, who was still alive, into their car and drove to another location a few blocks away where they beat the cat repeatedly with a nine iron. They then skinned the cat’s head and cut it off with a knife. The first young man stood trial but was acquitted by a jury because the prosecutor could not prove a feral (untamed) cat was a “domesticated living creature” as defined in Section 42.09(c)(2) and because the prosecutor could not prove the cat “belonged to another” as required by Section 42.09(a)(5). Charges against the second young man were subsequently dropped.
In order to close the loopholes that have allowed these egregious acts of violence to go unpunished, changes must be made to the current anti-cruelty statute. That’s why the Texas Humane Legislation Network will be working with law enforcement groups and many other distinguished organizations throughout Texas in the upcoming legislative session to support amendments that will strengthen our state’s current statute.
This measure will be written with language that is straightforward, understandable, and with the input of law enforcement and city officials. It will be framed to bring Texas in line with other states in providing the tools needed for prosecuting these violent acts.
In particular, we will address loopholes in the animal anti-cruelty statute that allow a person to:
· Seriously injure or kill your own animal in a cruel manner.
· Seriously injure, poison, or kill someone else’s horse, cow, sheep, pig or goat.
· Seriously injure, poison, or kill a stray animal in a cruel manner.
· Recklessly commit any cruel act on an animal.
With this information, would you be willing to endorse the concept of strengthening the current Texas Animal Anti-Cruelty Statute in next year’s legislative session?
I deeply appreciate your consideration of this important issue that affects the lives of both people and animals. Please let me know at your earliest convenience if you are in favor of a stronger anti-cruelty statute for our state.
For more information concerning the Texas Humane Legislation Network and legislation we have supported or opposed in past sessions, please visit our web site at www.THLN.com.
Thank you so much for your time.
Sincerely,
