updated 01/03/2005
 

Board & General Meeting Saturday -  January 22, 2005 General Session 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Network Directors & Guests) Executive Session 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Network Directors) The Nokonah 901 West 9th Lamar & 9th Street Austin, Texas
* * * SPEAK FOR THE ANIMALS! * * *
Help make Texas a safer place for animals by giving just a few minutes of your time during the 2005 Legislative Session.  How? By signing up to receive THLN’s Action Alerts and responding to them with calls and faxes to you state senator and representative.  *Just click here to send an email to action_alerts@thln.com and add your email address to receive timely legislative updates and instructions on how to help.  Not sure who represents you? Click on the Resources link and then choose “Find Your Legislative Incumbent.” Enter your address in the appropriate box and you will immediately be provided the names and contact information of your state senator and representative.  And please pass your Action Alerts on to your friends, family and neighbors who share your compassion for animals. Your efforts could make the difference in how your legislators vote. *Important Note: - do not send messages or requests for help to the above email address. They will not be answered. Please continue to send ALL other emails to webmaster@thln.com.
	URGENT REQUEST FOR DONATIONS!
Dear Friend: Hundreds of heinous acts of violence and cruelty to animals go unpunished in Texas every year. Why are so many animal abusers and killers able to escape justice - even with eyewitness accounts of their deeds and prosecutors willing to take action? Because - as it stands now -- the Texas Animal Anti-Cruelty Statute (Texas Penal Code 42.09) offers a number of loopholes that exempt even some of the most brutal acts of animal cruelty on record. In fact, did you know that in Texas it is not a violation of our animal cruelty statute to:
Kill your own puppy with a lawnmower? In Bell County, the owner of a puppy, irritated because the puppy kept trying to play with him while he was mowing the lawn, lifted the power mower and killed the dog with the moving blades. The man was not prosecuted because it is not an offense under the current Texas animal anti-cruelty statute to kill one's own animal, no matter how cruelly or by what means. Stomp a kitten to death? In Harris County, a man killed several kittens by stomping on their heads while threatening his mother that he would do the same to her. The mother had been bringing the kittens in her house to feed them, but did not claim them as her own. In this case, the difficulty in prosecution was the lack of evidence that the kittens' stomping deaths amounted to torture and that although the kittens were fed by the perpetrator's mother, they did not necessarily "belong" to her, thus no prosecution grounds were available under Section 42.09(a)(5) for killing an animal "belonging to another." Animal cruelty charges were dropped. Brutally torture a befriended stray cat? In March 2001, two college athletes were arrested in the possession of a severed, skinned cat's head, a pellet gun, a knife and a golf club with blood and cat hair on it. The cat was a stray who hung around a fast food restaurant in Waco and who had been befriended, fed and named "Queso" by a restaurant employee. Queso was shot by one of the men on the patio of the restaurant. The two men then put Queso, who was still alive, into their car and drove to another location a few blocks away where they beat the cat repeatedly with a nine iron. They then skinned the cat's head and cut it off with a knife. The first young man stood trial but was acquitted by a jury because the prosecutor could not prove a feral (untamed) cat was a "domesticated living creature" as defined in Section 42.09(c)(2) and because the prosecutor could not prove the cat "belonged to another" as required by Section 42.09(a)(5). Charges against the second young man were subsequently dropped.
In order to close the loopholes that have allowed these egregious acts of violence to go unpunished, changes must be made to the current anti-cruelty statute. The Network has made this issue its top priority for the 2005 Texas legislative session. THLN will work to change the anti-cruelty statute by adding several concise and comprehensive legislative amendments to close these loopholes.  In particular, we will address loopholes in the animal anti-cruelty statute that allow a person to:
Seriously injure or kill your own animal in a cruel manner. Seriously injure, poison, or kill someone else's horse, cow, sheep, pig or goat. Seriously injure, poison, or kill a stray animal in a cruel manner. Recklessly commit any cruel act on an animal.
If we are successful, district and county attorneys in Texas will have new, concrete laws in place to win convictions against those who commit crimes such as the ones described above. To ensure passage of this legislation, we will need effective legislative counsel and lobbying efforts throughout the session to get the sponsors and committee support this bill needs early on to win a majority vote in both the House and the Senate. We also need to get our message to as many media outlets as possible to make the public aware of the need for a stronger anti-cruelty statute and to prompt constituent calls to legislators.  Although it should stand to reason that most lawmakers would willingly support stronger anti-cruelty measures, we will face formidable enemies at the Capitol who often use heavy-handed tactics to oppose animal protection laws in general.  Your contribution to THLN has never been more important. Strong anti-cruelty laws with tough penalties for those who violate them are the most important deterrents we have against violence to animals.  Please make a generous donation today.  Thank you in advance for helping to make Texas a more humane place for the animals.  Sincerely, Anne Coller President