Deep in the heart of Texas
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1995:
AUSTIN – -Anti-animal bills
crowded state legislative calendars in
many states this spring, as newly elect-
ed wise-use wiseguys joined entrenched
good old boys in the effort to make the
world safe for hunters––but those intro-
duced in Texas were uniquely flamboy-
ant. Major items, with apparent status
at deadline:
SB-97, a long-awaited bill to
restrict canned hunting, has been
amended to apparently prohibit only the
point-blank dispatch of animals other
than pumas and “nuisance” species who
are held in small cages. (Active.)
HB-218 would bar the federal
government from doing misdemeanor
wildlife law enforcement within Texas.
Unless overturned by the courts, this
would end federal supervision of Texas
waterfowl hunting and canned hunting.
(Active.)
SB-329 would reintroduce
private predator-strafing in the name of
assisting wildlife management, in pos-
sible violation of the 1974 federal
Airborne Hunting Act. (Active.)
H B – 6 7 0 would legalize set-
ting dogs on captive coyotes, foxes,
and other animals within fenced enclo-
sures. (Active.)
HB-1562 would retroactively
legalize the killing of a neighbor’s dog
by Thomas Richard Massey, of
Spicewood, in September 1993––for
which he was convicted, fined $1,000,
and given a suspended sentence of one
year in jail. The bill would also allow
others to shoot on sight any dog
allegedly caught chasing livestock.
(Dormant.)
HB-1694 repeals much of the
Texas Parks & Wildlife code, at
request of gun lobbyists. (Active.)
H B – 1 7 7 9 and H B – 2 0 1 2
exempt meetings and documents of the
Texas Parks & Wildlife department,
which regulates hunting, from the state
Open Meetings Act and Open Records
Act. (Active.)
HB-1926 and HB-1927 would
create a “game sanctuary” on property
bordering the King hunting ranch,
thereby turning posting and patrolling
duty over to the state while, under vari-
ous exemptions, allowing King patrons
to continue to kill animals there.
(Active.)
HB-2472 would legalize dog-
fighting and cockfighting by including
fighting pits in the state definition of
“animal shelter,” and would retroac-
tively exonerate Kinney County sheriff
Norman Hooten, who was among 23
people arrested in a January 28 dog-
fighting bust. (Dormant.)
