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Subject: ALERT: TEXAS: NOTICE FROM THE TEXAS FEDERATION OF HUMANE
SOCIETIES ABOUT HB 2840
THE FOLLOWING IS AN IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM THE TEXAS FEDERATION OF HUMANE SOCIETIES ABOUT HB 2840 HICH WILL BE VOTED ON MONDAY OR TUESDAY BY THE ENTIRE TEXAS SENATE. IF THIS BILL PASSES IT WILL HAVE SOME REAL NEGATIVE RAMIFICATIONS ON EVERY DOG OWNER IN TEXAS!!!***YOU MUST ACT NOW TO DEFEAT THIS BILL What the Bill Does HB 2840 is one of several bills that have been introduced this session which negatively affect the rights of dog owners by imposing unfair and unrealistic requirements on them. Most of these bills are in response to recent attacks on humans by dogs running loose, but the reaction by the Texas legislature has been a huge over reaction and the bills as written will unjustly punish and create potential liabilities for responsible dog owners. HB 2840 does several things that would have a negative impact on dog owners. Some examples are as follows: "« In order to be totally protected from liability if your dog bites someone, the dog must be kept in a ˇ§secure enclosureˇ¨. As defined in the bill, that means the enclosure must be: (i) locked; (ii) capable of preventing entry by anyone (this would mean no swimming pool cleaners, yard men, meter readers, etc.); and (iii) all entrances must be locked and have a sign reading ˇ§contains a dogˇ¨ (this would mean that you would have to place signs on every gate in your yard and if you keep the dog in your house, you would have to have it on every door into your house). "« The enclosure must also be in conformance with any requirements established by the local animal control authority. This gives your local animal control the right to impose on you any type of requirements they choose (example, require your fence to be 10 feet tall) and allows them to be breed specific in those requirements. In other words, they can make different requirements for each specific breed. This could lead to requirements on certain breeds that are so restrictive that it would effectively ban them. "« The bill makes an owner liable for an attack by his dog if the dog is not inside the secure enclosure. Thus, if you are walking your dog on a leash and someone comes up to him and gets bitten, you will be liable and your dog could be ordered destroyed. "« Even if the attack takes place inside the ˇ§secure enclosureˇ¨ where the dog is being kept, the dog can be ordered destroyed unless you can prove that the person was trespassing in the enclosure. "« The bill allows a person to use any and all means available to defend against a dog attack. It does not limit those means to reasonable means. Thus a person could use a gun or any other lethal weapon to kill a small dog (such as a Chihuahua) and the owner would have no recourse against the shooter. This right to defend oneself by any means or method is so wide open, it will definitely lead to abuses. "« The bill also exonerates and protects a person from any liability who is defending against a dog attack and makes the owner of the dog liable for any damages caused by the person in defending himself. This is true even if the owner was in no way negligent. For example, if a person fired a shotgun to stop an alleged dog attack and the shotgun blast accidentally hit another person and killed or injured that person, the dog owner, not the person firing the shotgun, would be liable for the damages. With this provision many homeowners will either be unable to obtain homeownerˇ¦s insurance or the premiums for homeownerˇ¦s insurance for dog owners will be astronomical. "« Finally, the bill exempts a person from any criminal prosecution for killing or injuring a dog if the person thinks the dog is attacking him or another person. It does not require any reasonableness on the personˇ¦s part and doesnˇ¦t require the person to prove the circumstances as an affirmative defense but instead keeps prosecutors from even charging the person with an offense. What You Can Do HB 2840 has passed the House of Representatives and will be voted on in the Senate on Monday or Tuesday. If you want to try to defeat this bill, you need to contact as many Senators as possible ˇV ESPECIALLY YOURS ˇV and ask them to VOTE AGAINST HB 2840. The contact information for Texas Senators is as follows: Senators Capitol Phone Capitol Fax E-mail Ken Armbrister 512/463-0118 512/475-3736 Ken.Armbrister@senate.state.tx.us Kip Averitt 512/463-0122 512/475-3729 Kip.Averitt@senate.state.tx.us Gonzalo Barrientos 512/463-0114 512/463-5949 Gonzalo.Barrientos@senate.state.tx.us Kim Brimer 512/463-0110 512/475-3745 Kim.Brimer@senate.state.tx.us John Carona 512/463-0116 512/463-3135 John.Carona@senate.state.tx.us Robert F. Deuell, MD 512/463-0102 512/463-7202 Robert.Deuell@senate.state.tx.us Robert Duncan 512/463-0128 512/463-2424 Robert.Duncan@senate.state.tx.us Rodney Ellis 512/463-0113 512/463-0006 Rodney.Ellis@senate.state.tx.us Kevin Eltife 512/463-0101 512/475-3751 Kevin.Eltife@senate.state.tx.us Craig Estes 512/463-0130 512/463-8874 Craig.Estes@senate.state.tx.us Troy Fraser 512/463-0124 512/475-3732 Troy.Fraser@senate.state.tx.us Mario Gallegos 512/463-0106 512/463-0346 Mario.Gallegos@senate.state.tx.us Chris Harris 512/463-0109 512/463-7003 Chris.Harris@senate.state.tx.us Juan Hinojosa 512/463-0120 512/463-0229 Juan.Hinojosa@senate.state.tx.us Mike Jackson 512/463-0111 512/475-3727 Mike.Jackson@senate.state.tx.us Kyle Janek 512/463-0117 512/463-0639 Kyle.Janek@senate.state.tx.us Jon Lindsay 512/463-0107 512/463-8810 Jon.Lindsay@senate.state.tx.us Eddie Lucio, Jr. 512/463-0127 512/463-0061 Eddie.Lucio@senate.state.tx.us Frank Madla, Jr. 512/463-0119 512/463-1017 Frank.Madla@senate.state.tx.us Jane Nelson 512/463-0112 512/463-0923 Jane.Nelson@senate.state.tx.us Steve Ogden 512/463-0105 512/463-5713 Steve.Ogden@senate.state.tx.us Florence Shapiro 512/463-0108 512/463-7579 Florence.Shapiro@senate.state.tx.us Seliger Kel 512/463-0131 512/475-3733 Seliger.Kel@senate.state.tx.us Eliot Shapleigh 512/463-0129 512/463-0218 Eliot.Shapleigh@senate.state.tx.us Todd Staples 512/463-0103 512/463-1526 Todd.Staples@senate.state.tx.us Leticia Van de Putte 512/463-0126 512-463-2114 Leticia.VandePutte@senate.state.tx.us Jeff Wentworth 512/463-0125 512/463-7794 Jeff.Wentworth@senate.state.tx.us Royce West 512/463-0123 512/463-0299 Royce.West@senate.state.tx.us John Whitmire 512/463-0115 512/475-3737 John.Whitmire@senate.state.tx.us Tommy Williams 512/463-0104 512/463-6373 Tommy.Williams@senate.state.tx.us Judith Zaffirini 512/463-0121 512/475-3738 Judith.Zaffirini@senate.state.tx.us
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