Texas Pet Adoption Laws

The Texas Consolidated Dog Laws specify pet adoption standards. The laws apply to dogs and cats. They define adoption agencies, establish standards for veterinary care and provide exemptions from veterinary care.

  1. Adoption Agencies

    • Pets can be adopted by public or privately owned adoption agencies.

      The Texas laws are applicable to private and publicly owned pet adoption agencies. The laws allow private adoption agencies the right to specify their own adoption standards as long as they are fair and equal to potential adopters. Publicly owned agencies must adhere to standards in accordance with the prevention of cruelty to animals and reasonable animal management standards related to the health and welfare of pets.

    Surgery and Other Veterinary Services

    • Appropriate veterinary care must be given to pets available for adoption.

      Surgical spaying or neutering or nonsurgical sterilization of adopted pets must be performed by a licensed veterinarian or by a student at an accredited college of veterinary medicine. Emergency and nonemergency surgical procedures can be performed by veterinarians employed or under contract with adoptive agencies. An agency employee may not interfere with the professional judgement of a licensed veterinarian when it comes to medical decisions.

    Exemptions

    • Texas pet adoption laws do not apply to certain people and places.

      The adoption standards in the Texas Consolidated Dog Laws do not apply to pets that are released from shelters to their legal owners, adoption agencies located in municipalities with their own pet sterilization laws or pets owned by institutions of higher education legally used for educational purposes. In addition, counties with a population of 20,000 or fewer and municipalities with a population of 10,000 or fewer are exempt from these laws.