Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is set to determine the legality of trap-neuter-release programs.
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a method for humanely reducing the population of community cats. After being contained, cats are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and ear-tipped before being returned to the outdoor area where they were captured.
The City of Dallas has its own TNR program in effect.
The Texas Penal Code addresses cruelty for both livestock and non-livestock animals in Section 42.09, subsection 42.092. Texas Law prohibits a person from intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly treating an animal cruelly.
The law forbids actions such as torture, abandonment, overworking, cruelty, confinement, and more.
Brazoria County District Attorney Tom Selleck sent a letter to the Texas Attorney General’s Office in November to determine whether TNR violates animal cruelty laws. Selleck specifically asked on behalf of the city of Pearland whether such programs might constitute abandonment.
Pearland is considering adopting TNR to deal with its own population of homeless cats. The city does not currently have an ordinance regarding TNR-style programs.
Selleck is concerned that “returning the animal into the wild without making reasonable arrangements for another individual to take custody of said animal operates as a form of abandonment, by letter of the law,” according to the letter.
“If the abandonment is made unreasonably, such as leaving the stray in an open and unsafe environment, then that may support a conviction under Tex. Penal Code §42.092(b)(4),” he continued.
Danielle Bays, a senior analyst for cat protection and policy at the Humane Society of the United States, argues that “[i]t’s not as if these cats are being left to fend for themselves,” according to The Dallas Morning News, noting that the cats are returned to areas familiar to them.
“I don’t know of anywhere where people have actually been charged with abandoning cats when they return them to where they were found,” Bays added.
Selleck said he is not seeking to do away with the program entirely and recognizes its merit.
“I just don’t want somebody getting arrested over it. I’d like to know what my parameters are as a prosecutor,” said Selleck.
Texas has both criminal and civil laws designed to protect animals from cruelty and abuse, according to the SPCA of Texas.
Punishment in a civil case includes a judge removing the animal from the perpetrator and a demand for payment of restitution. In a criminal case, punishment comes in the form of fines, jail time, community service, and/or probation.
Minors found guilty would be required to undergo counseling.