Governor Greg Abbott vetoes animal cruelty bill, author of SB 474 reacts

SB 474, a bill that would have expanded animal cruelty laws, has been vetoed by Governor Greg Abbott.

“We were just completely blindsided when we saw that veto at 11 pm on Friday night,” said Stacy Sutton Kerby, Director of Government Relations at the Texas Humane Legislation Network. “This was a chance for the governor and for the state of Texas to keep dogs in our community safer and we are heartbroken to know that these incidents will continue because we did not take the chance to make it right.”

The THLN worked with lawmakers to create “the safe outdoors dog act” which would have made it illegal to leave dogs outside unattended and restrained. The bill would have required dog owners to provide adequate shelter, shade from direct sunlight, an area to avoid standing water, and drinkable water when outside or face a Class C misdemeanor. This bill would have prohibited dog owners from using short restraints such as chains or a tether with weights attached.

Lawmakers said the bill had bipartisan support with over 90 co-sponsors.

“It’s unfortunate that the governor has vetoed this very important piece of legislation,” said state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth. “This is a very important piece of legislation that’s much needed and supported by many cities, counties, law enforcement, and just a lot of bipartisan support. To see the governor veto it shows he has a complete disregard for what the people of Texas want.”

Kerby said SB 474 would have cleaned up the previous bill to make it more effective.

“In 2007, a bill was passed that laid out how a person can tether their dog unattended outdoors. Unfortunately, the language in that statue that currently exists in the Texas health and safety code is so vague that it was unenforceable for law enforcement and animal control officers. In addition, it included a provision that said a pet owner must be given a 24-hour warning before an officer could help a dog in distress,” Kerby said. “SB 474 took a very balanced approach to closing the loopholes that are in the current code. Our organization saw hundreds and hundreds of stories, complaints, news articles over the years about tethered dogs not being safe because of the way the law was written, it just wasn’t clear enough.”

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Governor Greg Abbott vetoed the bill on Friday, signing a proclamation that read:

“Texans love their dogs, so it is no surprise that our statutes already protect them by outlawing true animal cruelty. Yet Senate Bill 474 would compel every dog owner, on pain of criminal penalties, to monitor things like the tailoring of the dog’s collar, the time the dog spends in the bed of a truck, and the ratio of tether-to-dog length, as measured from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail. Texas is no place for this kind of micro-managing and over-criminalization.”

Author of the bill, state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. disagrees with Governor Abbott’s response. He received several calls asking why the bill was vetoed, but never once did he hear from Governor Abbott himself with concerns about the bill.

“I do not agree that the bill would lead to over-criminalization. I’m sad that the governor did not take time to talk to me, the author of the bill, so I can express to him what I felt was necessary over the last six years. We worked so hard on this piece of legislation,” said state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville.

State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. said legislation similar to SB 474 has been discussed the past three sessions and just because it was vetoed this session, doesn’t mean it won’t come back.

“We don’t have enough in the books to make sure we protect these animals from harm, mistreatment and possible death,” said state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville.

“This bill has been filed multiple times over multiple sessions,” said state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth. “It would either get a point of order or it would get killed on a calendar, so this year we were able to get it to the finish line. I plan on bringing this legislation back. I truly believe what it accomplishes, and we worked so hard for it and this will come back.”