TX bill would classify animal cruelty as felony
May 02 2007
Home >> Legislation

People who torture or kill animals would face much stiffer penalties if House Bill 2328 is passed.

If the bill passes the Senate as well and gets signed into law, cruelty to animals will become a felony.

According to authors of HB 2328, under the current law district attorneys have been unable to prosecute cases in which someone has drowned shelter dogs in cages by dropping them into a city's sewage tank, burned and mutilated kittens, and killed a puppy with a power lawn mower.

Prosecutors were unable to prove whether the animal was tortured.

HB 2328 defines torture and lays out the penalties: state jail felony for a first-time offender, and a third-degree felony after three animal cruelty convictions.

"There were a bunch of college students going around skinning cats," said Rep. Beverly Woolley, R-Houston. "These are horrendous acts that shouldn't be happening. Actually, studies show that people who are cruel to animals and torture animals like that sometimes becomes serial killers."

The bill also included penalties for not providing shelter or water to livestock animals, but because of the uproar that caused in the House, the bill focus on abuse of domestic animals.

Edited: May 01 2007 at 9:22 pm