Texas has no specific 'hoarding' statute, but keeping animals without adequate food, water, care, or shelter, or cruelly confining them, is animal cruelty, a Class A misdemeanor. Bell County's sheriff and local police handle cruelty complaints countywide.
Animal hoarding is prosecuted through Texas' cruelty law, Penal Code 42.092. A person commits an offense by, among other things, failing unreasonably to provide necessary food, water, care, or shelter for an animal in their custody, or by transporting or confining an animal in a cruel manner, exactly the conditions typical of hoarding. This applies everywhere in Bell County, incorporated or not, and is enforced by the sheriff, constables, and city police. Convictions can bring animal seizure and forfeiture, and repeat offenses escalate to a state jail felony.
Cruelty under 42.092 is a Class A misdemeanor, rising to a state jail felony after two prior convictions. Courts may order seizure and forfeiture of the animals.
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See how Killeen's animal hoarding rules stack up against other locations.
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