By De la Garza H.B. No. 721
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT relating to the control of rabies; providing criminal penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 826.022, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 826.022. VACCINATION; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an offense if the person fails or refuses to have each dog or cat owned by the person vaccinated against rabies and the animal is required to be vaccinated under:
(1) Section 826.021 and board rules; or
(2) ordinances or rules adopted under this chapter by a county or municipality within whose jurisdiction the act occurs.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A [C] misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 826, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 826.0221 to read as follows:
Sec. 826.0221. TRANSPORTING DOG OR CAT WITHOUT VACCINATION
CERTIFICATE; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an offense if the person transports a dog or cat four months of age or older from one county to another without having in the person's possession an official rabies vaccination certificate showing that the dog or cat, within the period prescribed by the board under Section 826.021, has been vaccinated to prevent rabies.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
SECTION 3. Section 826.042, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 826.042. QUARANTINE OF ANIMALS. (a) The board shall adopt rules governing the testing of quarantined animals and the procedure for and method of quarantine.
(b) A [The] local health authority or veterinarian shall quarantine or test in accordance with board rules any animal that the local health authority or veterinarian has probable cause to

believe is rabid, may have been exposed to rabies, or may have exposed a person to rabies.
(c) An owner shall submit for quarantine an animal that:
(1) is reported to be rabid or to have exposed an individual to rabies; or
(2) the owner knows or suspects is rabid or has [to have] exposed an individual to rabies.
(d) The owner shall submit the animal to the local health authority of the county or municipality in which the exposure occurs.
(e) A veterinarian shall quarantine an animal that:
(1) is in the possession of the veterinarian; and
(2) the veterinarian knows or suspects is rabid or has exposed an individual to rabies.
SECTION 4. Section 826.043, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 826.043. RELEASE OR DISPOSITION OF QUARANTINED ANIMAL. (a) If a veterinarian determines that a quarantined animal does not show the clinical signs of rabies, the veterinarian or local health authority shall release the animal to its owner when the quarantine period ends if:
(1) the owner has an unexpired rabies vaccination certificate for the animal; or
(2) the animal is vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian at the owner's expense.
(b) If a veterinarian determines that a quarantined animal shows the clinical signs of rabies, the veterinarian or local health authority shall humanely destroy the animal. If an animal dies or is destroyed while in quarantine, the veterinarian or local health authority shall remove the head or brain of the animal and submit it to the nearest department laboratory for testing.
(c) The owner of an animal that is quarantined under this chapter shall pay to the veterinarian or local health authority the reasonable costs of the quarantine and disposition of the animal. The veterinarian or local health authority may bring suit to collect those costs. The county in which the veterinarian is located shall reimburse the veterinarian in a reasonable

amount set by the county for the costs of the quarantine and disposition of an animal whose owner is unable to pay.
(d) The veterinarian or local health authority may sell the animal and retain the proceeds or keep, grant, or destroy an animal if the owner or custodian does not take possession of the animal before the fourth day following the final day of the quarantine period.
SECTION 5. Subchapter E, Chapter 826, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 826.0451 to read as follows:
Sec. 826.0451. TRANSPORTATION OR SALE OF HIGH RISK ANIMAL;
CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) transports or possesses for the purpose of transporting an animal from this state to another state or country for the purpose of hunting, injuring, or killing the animal for amusement or sport if the animal is of a type that has a high probability of transmitting rabies; or
(2) sells or possesses for the purpose of sale an animal from this state to a person in another state or country for the purpose of hunting, injuring, or killing the animal for amusement or sport if the animal is of a type that has a high probability of transmitting rabies.
(b) It is not a defense to a prosecution under this section that the transportation, possession, or sale of the animal is authorized by a permit issued by the Parks and Wildlife
Department.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(d) The board shall define the types of animals that have a high probability of transmitting rabies for purposes of this section.
SECTION 6. Subchapter E, Chapter 826, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 826.047 to read as follows:
Sec. 826.047. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. A veterinarian performing duties under this chapter is not liable to the owner of an animal for the death of or injury to the animal except in a case of wilful misconduct or gross negligence.
SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense

committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs before that date.
(b) An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.