Austin criminal defense lawyers of Morales & Navarrete

Animal Cruelty Laws

Generally, a state’s animal cruelty laws are written to protect “every living dumb creature” or “every living vertebrate, except humans.” Texas’ cruelty laws, however, are very narrow in scope.

Texas’ laws protect livestock and animals that are in custody, such as household pets, but do not protect animals outside this definition. This excludes wild animals such as deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, or any other animal that is not owned from protection from animal cruelty.

The laws prohibit intentional or knowingly cruel treatment of animals; however, accidental or negligent actions cannot be prosecuted under the cruelty statutes. Intent and knowledge have proven to be hard to prove. To combat this, the courts have allowed juries to rely on circumstantial evidence. This has included, in the past, counting numerous emaciated animals on a rancher’s property to show that the rancher had knowledge of the fact that his animals were starving.

There are two types of cruelty statutes: intentional actions and failure to act. Intentional actions include such things as torturing an animal; transporting or confining an animal in a cruel manner; killing, seriously injuring, or poisoning an animal; causing an animal to fight with another; using a live animal as a lure in a dog race; tripping a horse; injuring an animal belonging to another; seriously overworking an animal.

Failure to act crimes include failing to provide necessary food, care, or shelter; and unreasonably abandoning an animal. Texas has separate, specific statutes banning dog fighting in the state.

If you have been charged with any sort of animal cruelty crime, contact the Austin criminal defense lawyers of Morales & Navarrete at 1-866-812-4696 to determine the best plan for your successful defense.