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Senate committee advances bill adding criminal negligence to Texas animal-cruelty law after emotional testimony from pet owners
Summary
House Bill 285 would add criminal negligence as a culpable mental state to the non-livestock animal-cruelty statute (Penal Code §42.092). Pet owners and advocacy groups testified about deaths at pet service businesses and said the change would close a loophole they say allows businesses to avoid prosecution.
House Bill 285, known in testimony as “Pancho’s Law,” was presented to the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice and advanced on May 20.
Sponsor Senator John West said the bill “adds an additional multiple culpable mental state to this particular crime, criminal negligence,” so that pet-service businesses — groomers, daycares and trainers — can be criminally charged when negligence results in death or serious bodily injury to a non-livestock animal under Penal Code §42.092.
Maria Mecca, who said her dog…
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