It is vital that animal lovers write/email your Representatives and Senator now.

The major part of the bill is described below. Contact information for some of the Texas State Senators and Representatives is listed below.

Please pass this information along to any animal lovers.

House Bill 653 (Senate Bill 1724 similar to this)

A person commits an offense if with criminal negligence the person [he intentionally or knowingly]:

(1) tortures or seriously overworks an animal;
(2) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, care, or shelter for an animal in his custody;
(3) abandons unreasonably an animal in his custody;
(4) transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner;
(5) kills, injures, or administers poison to an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's effective consent;
(6) causes one animal to fight with another;
(7) uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training or in dog coursing on a racetrack; or
(8) trips a horse.

For purposes of this section:

(1) "Abandon" includes abandoning an animal in the person's custody without making reasonable arrangements for assumption of custody by another person.
(2) "Animal" means a domesticated living creature and wild living creature previously captured. "Animal" does not include an uncaptured wild creature or a wild creature whose capture was accomplished by conduct at issue under this section.
(3) "Cruel manner" includes a manner that causes or permits unjustified or unwarranted pain or suffering.
(4) "Custody" includes responsibility for the health, safety, and welfare of an animal subject to the person's care and control, regardless of ownership of the animal.
(5) "Necessary food, care, or shelter" includes food, care, or shelter provided to the extent required to maintain the animal in a state of good health.
(6) "Trip" means to use an object to cause a horse to fall or lose its balance.

An offense under this section is a state jail felony [Class A misdemeanor], except that the offense is a [state jail] felony of the third degree if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section.

(1.) Just write/email a few lines like:

"I am a registered voter and am very supportive of the passage of HB 653 (if you are writing a representative) or SB 1724 (if you are writing a Senator). This bill is very important to us. Please keep me informed of its progress. Thank you, your name"

(2.) If you don't know your Senator or Rep. check out the sites below:

To write your Representative about H.B. 653, look up your Representative by zip code: http://www.house.state.tx.us/house/byzip.htm

To write your Senator about S.B. 1724 - the companion bill, look up your Senator by zip code: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/Members.htm

(3.) If you know your Senator or Rep. here are the addresses/emails of some in the Austin area:

Write about H.B. 653

Rep. Terry Keel -
(he is on the Criminal Jurisprudence committee)
email: Terry.Keel@house.state.tx.us
Room EXT E2.208
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-0652

Rep. Elliott Naishtat
email: Elliott.Naishtat@house.state.tx.us
Room EXT E1.506
Capitol Address:
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-0668

Rep. Dawnna Dukes
email: none listed
Room EXT E2.808
Capitol Address:
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-0506

Rep. Glen Maxey
email: Glen.Maxey@house.state.tx.us
Room EXT E1.420
Capitol Address:
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-0552

Rep. Ann Kitchen
(she is also on the Criminal Jurisprudence committee)
email: Ann.Kitchen@house.state.tx.us
Capitol Address:
Room EXT E1.208
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-0700

Write about S.B. 1724
Senator Gonzalo Barrientos
email form
P.O. Box 12068
Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
(512) 463-0114
(512) 463-5949 (Fax)

Author: Rep. Manny Najera
email - none listed
Room EXT E1.312
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-0954

Author: Senator David Cain
email form
P.O. Box 12068
Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
1-800-SEN-CAIN
(512) 463-0102
Fax (512) 463-7202

We of the furry, feathered, scaled, gilled, hoofed, beaked, horned, and tailed persuasion thank you.

BATHROOMS:
Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything. Just sit and stare. (Pumpkin loves to do this to Daddy!)

DOORS:
Do not allow any closed doors in any room. To get door open, stand on hind legs and hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use it. After you have ordered an "outside" door opened, stand halfway in and out and think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, snow, or mosquito season. (Doors suck!)

CHAIRS AND RUGS:
If you have to throw up, get to a chair quickly. If you cannot manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, shag is good. When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up so it is as long as a human's bare foot. (Maggie yurks up a lot. Pumpkin usually cleans up after her before Mom and Dad find it though. That's soooo icky!)

HAMPERING:
If one of your humans is engaged in some activity and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called "helping," otherwise known as "hampering." Following are the rules for "hampering:"

1. When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted. (This might work if Mom and Dad ever cooked.)
   
   
2. For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the book itself.
   
   
3. For paperwork, lie on the work in the most appropriate manner so as to obscure as much of the work as possible. Pretend to doze, but every so often reach out and slap the pencil or pen.
   
   
4. For people paying bills or working on income taxes or Christmas cards, keep in mind the aim: to hamper! First, sit on the paper being worked on. When dislodged, watch sadly from the side of the table. When activity proceeds nicely, roll around on the papers, scattering them to the best of your ability. After being removed for the second time, push pens, pencils, and erasers off the table, one at a time. (Spritel does this best.)
   
   
5. When a human is holding the newspaper in front of him/her, be sure to jump at the back of the paper. Humans love to jump.
   
   
6. When human is working at computer, jump up on desk, walk across keyboard, bat at mouse pointer on screen and then lay in human's lap across arms, hampering typing in progress. (Spritel and I take turns doing this to Mom.)

WALKING:
As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of the human, especially: on stairs, when they have something in their arms, in the dark, and when they first get up in the morning. This will help their coordination skills. (Pumpkin and I like to play "You can't see me!" on the stairs at night.)

BEDTIME:
Always sleep on the human at night so he/she cannot move around. (1 Mommy, 4 cats. 'Nuff said.)

LITTER BOX:
When using the litter box, be sure to kick as much litter out of the box as possible. Humans love the feel of kitty litter between their toes. (You can also spread your toes wide, put your foot down, then clench so you can pick up as much litter as possible before hopping out of the box. Maggie, Spritel, Pumpkin, and I have regular contests to see who can get the farthest away from the litter box before getting a foot cramp and dropping the litter. Getting up the stairs is a real challenge!)

HIDING:
Every now and then, hide in a place where the humans cannot find you. Do not come out for three to four hours under any circumstances. This will cause the humans to panic (which they love) thinking that you have run away or are lost. Once you do come out, the humans will cover you with love and kisses and you will probably get a treat. (This isn't really that fun, 'cause it makes Mom cry.)

ONE LAST THOUGHT:
Whenever possible, get close to a human, especially their face, turn around, and present your butt to them. Humans love this, so do it often. And don't forget guests. (Maggie loves to do this. Whenever I do it, they call me "Stinky Butt.")

Hi Ed!

I want to thank you for the 2 1/2 Sutherlands rating for my blog, though being as cute as I am, I expected higher. (Gotta live up to my name, y'know!)

Really, the only problem I have with your review is calling me Cocky Bastard's kitten. Halcyon is my namesake and my inspiration, but he's not my dad. My mommy is Pamela (no, not THAT Pamela!) and she's the one who started this site for me, though I get help from other friends too, like bwg (he's not my dad either, hee hee.)

Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to review my site!

Not-so-humbly Yours,
Styn
a.k.a. Cocky Kitten

p.s.
I saw your Strange Cat review, and while I'm flattered to be mentioned in TWO reviews, I do like to think that I'm much more eloquent than that. >^_^<