Relating to the prosecution of the offense of cruelty to nonlivestock animals.
CriticalImmediate action required
Medium Cost
Effective:2025-06-20
Enforcing Agencies
Local Law Enforcement (Police/Sheriff) • District Attorneys • County Attorneys
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: June 20, 2025 (Pursuant to legislative supermajority vote).
Compliance Deadline: June 20, 2025. There is no grace period; conduct occurring on or after this date is subject to the new standard.
Agency Rulemaking: None. This is a Penal Code amendment enforced by police and prosecutors, not a regulatory agency. Do not wait for administrative guidance; the statute is the final word.
Immediate Action Plan
Immediate: Audit and update all "Standard of Care" protocols to ensure they meet or exceed industry best practices; mediocrity is now a liability.
By May 15: Meet with insurance brokers to verify coverage for "criminal acts of employees" and secure necessary riders.
By June 1: Conduct mandatory all-staff meetings to explain the new legal standard: "I didn't mean to" is no longer a defense.
By June 20: Ensure all physical logs (water/wellness checks) are active and being audited by management daily.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
Vendor MSAs: Update Master Services Agreements with third-party transporters or walkers. Mandate certification of compliance with Texas Penal Code 42.092 and broaden indemnification to cover criminal defense costs arising from their negligence.
Employment Agreements: Revise employee handbooks to define "conduct constituting criminal negligence" as grounds for immediate termination for cause. This is necessary to protect the entity’s unemployment tax rating and distance the business from individual criminal acts.
Hiring/Training
Curriculum Update: Training must shift from "identifying abuse" to "preventing negligence." Staff must understand that leaving an animal unattended in a vehicle or dryer, even accidentally, is now a criminal offense.
Signed Acknowledgments: Require all staff to sign a document acknowledging they understand the new "criminal negligence" standard and their personal liability under the law.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Mandatory Care Logs: Implement timestamped logs for water, feeding, and visual checks (recommended interval: 60 minutes). In a negligence prosecution, a lack of documentation will be interpreted as a failure to provide care.
Incident Reports: Update forms to include a "Remedial Action" field. You must document immediate mitigation steps taken after any injury to disprove "unreasonable" failure to care.
Fees & Costs
Insurance Riders: Review General Liability and Animal Bailee policies immediately. Most policies exclude criminal acts. You may need to purchase "Innocent Party" coverage riders to protect the business entity if an employee is charged.
Legal Retainers: Budget for increased legal costs; criminal defense requires different counsel than standard civil liability claims.
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
"Unreasonable" Failure: The statute criminalizes "unreasonably" failing to provide care. This term is undefined and subjective. Enforcement will vary by jurisdiction (e.g., Travis County vs. Lubbock County). Businesses must adopt the strictest possible interpretation of "reasonable care" to avoid prosecution.
Scope of Veterinary Defense: The defense for veterinarians applies only during the "actual discharge of duties." It is unclear if this covers non-medical tasks performed by clinic staff (e.g., walking a dog). Until case law is established, clinics should apply standard negligence protocols to all non-medical activities.
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The bill author has informed the committee of a matter that was brought to her attention during her time on the El Paso City Council in which a constituent's dog was negligently killed by an unlicensed groomer on their wedding day and that since then, the author has heard from families across Texas who have gone through similarly heartbreaking situations involving the loss of a beloved companion animal due to criminally negligent behavior. The Penal Code establishes that a person acts with criminal negligence, or is criminally negligent, with respect to circumstances surrounding their conduct or the result of their conduct when the person ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The bill author has also informed the committee that currently, attorneys are unable to seek justice for families whose dogs or cats have been harmed due to negligent conduct, and these bad actors are able to potentially harm other animals. H.B. 285 seeks to address these acts of cruelty by including criminal negligence among the states of mind for the offense of cruelty to nonlivestock animals.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
H.B. 285 amends the Penal Code to include criminal negligence as a state of mind with which committing conduct constituting cruelty to nonlivestock animals qualifies as such an offense. The bill establishes as a defense to prosecution for alleged criminal negligence that the conduct occurred during the actual discharge of the actor's duties while employed as a state-licensed veterinarian or as a person assisting the veterinarian. The bill applies only to an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date. An offense committed before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For these purposes, an offense was committed before the bill's effective date if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
Honorable John T. Smithee, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB285 by Ordaz (Relating to the prosecution of the offense of cruelty to nonlivestock animals.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would expand the conduct constituting the criminal offense of cruelty to nonlivestock animals to include the culpable mental state of criminal negligence. The bill would furthermore add a defense to prosecution for veterinarians and their assistants if the conduct occurs while discharging their duties.
It is assumed that any fiscal impact and impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant.
Local Government Impact
It is assumed that any fiscal impact to units of local government associated with enforcement, prosecution, supervision, or confinement would not be significant.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:
JMc, MGol, AMr, QH
Related Legislation
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HB285 fundamentally alters the legal landscape for the pet care industry by lowering the prosecutorial burden from "recklessness" to "criminal negligence. " This means business owners and staff can now face Class A Misdemeanor or State Jail Felony charges for operational oversights they should have known were risky, effectively criminalizing incompetence or distraction. This change impacts every entity taking custody of nonlivestock animals, including kennels, groomers, and transporters.
Q
Who authored HB285?
HB285 was authored by Texas Representative Claudia Ordaz Perez during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB285 signed into law?
HB285 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB285?
HB285 is enforced by Local Law Enforcement (Police/Sheriff), District Attorneys and County Attorneys.
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB285?
The compliance urgency for HB285 is rated as "critical". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB285?
The cost impact of HB285 is estimated as "medium". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB285 address?
HB285 addresses topics including animals, crimes, crimes--miscellaneous and veterinarians.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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