GOP Texas Governor Vetoes Anti-Dog Cruelty Bill

The Texas Tribune reports:

The bill would have made it illegal to chain up dogs and leave them without drinkable water, adequate shade or shelter. It also called for a ban on tethering dogs with heavy chains.

Abbott said Texas already has the statutes in place to protect dogs from animal cruelty, and the penalties proposed in the bill seemed excessive. “Texas is no place for this kind of micro-managing and over-criminalization,” he said in the veto statement.

Shelby Bobosky, executive director of Texas Humane Legislation Network, a nonprofit that lobbies in support of animal rights, said the organization’s members are devastated by the veto, and the bill would have “clarified the vague language that makes the statute completely unenforceable.”

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