By Tracey McManus, The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — Fifty years ago, Cile Holloway attended a national animal welfare conference and realized there was nobody working on legislation to improve the lives of animals in Texas.
Back then, it was a tough sell to convince lawmakers that animals widely seen as property needed shelter from extreme cold or heat — let alone that dogs and roosters should not be trained to fight each other to the death for entertainment.
But working for animals was in Holloway’s blood. Her mother was Patricia Davis, who founded the Garland Humane Society in the 1970s that replaced the de facto animal shelter running out of their home’s three-car garage.
In 1975, Holloway, Davis and a group of volunteers formed what would become the Texas Humane Legislation Network, which has since passed dozens of laws, from a ban on gas chambers for euthanasia in shelters to requirements for rabies control for public safety. It has grown into a statewide advocacy group with five employees that pushes legislation, while a sister nonprofit founded in 2020, the Texas Humane Network, conducts training and outreach.
As the Network reached its 50th anniversary this year, The Dallas Morning News spoke with Holloway and executive director Shelby Bobosky about some of its wins and challenges ahead.
The Safe Outdoor Dog Act
In 2021, the network helped pass the Safe Outdoor Dog Act, which made Texas the first and only state in the country to ban chains to tether dogs.
It also requires outside dogs to have shelter, shade and water. But it took seven years of lobbying to secure these “basic safeguards,” Bobosky said.
The previous tether law on the books set tether lengths, but it did not address the use of chains and required law enforcement to give owners a 24-hour warning. Bobosky said it allowed owners to use inhumane “tow truck chains” that left dogs suffering.
She said it was not uncommon to see dogs with no water in 100-degree heat.
“All you could do was issue a warning and come back the next day,” Bobosky said, “and maybe there was some water in the bowl, but the problem would persist two days later.”
Changing this drew pushback that Bobosky characterized as “don’t tell me what to do with my dog.” It took three legislative sessions and collaboration with stakeholders — such as the Sheriff’s Association of Texas, Texas Animal Control Association and Texas Young Republicans — but the bill ultimately passed in 2021.
It can be difficult to confirm statewide compliance, but Bobosky said calls to the network from citizens reporting neglected or chain-tethered dogs have dropped 70% since the law passed.
“It really became a brand new day for Texas outside dogs,” she said.
Animal Friendly license plate program
Over the past three decades, about $6 million has been raised for spaying and neutering dogs and cats through the sale of specialty license plates, thanks to legislation the network helped craft.
In 1997, the Animal Friendly license plate program passed as a way to raise funds to combat the animal overpopulation crisis, Bobosky said.
“Animals are much better off in the state of Texas because of THLN,” said Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, who worked with the group to pass a law in 2023 that prevents perpetrators of animal cruelty from possessing an animal for five years after a conviction. “They are advocates not only for pets but the pet owners.”
Shelter overpopulation is one of the most challenging issues to solve, in part, Bobosky said, because of the need for education and funding to serve pet owners who cannot afford to sterilize their animals. This program was updated in the 2025 legislative session to expand the design of specialty license plates to raise more funds and increase awareness.
Separately, the Legislature in 2025 allocated $13 million for a pilot program that gives out grants to spay and neuter animals.
Fighting laws
The network was behind the push to outlaw dog fighting and strengthen cockfighting laws in Texas — but it wasn’t easy, Holloway said.
The Legislature criminalized dog fighting in 1983, but Holloway said it took years to get the issue to the forefront despite immense suffering inflicted on dogs forced to fight to the death.
“So many legislators who didn’t want to deal with animals would simply use the excuse ‘I’ve got too many people issues to cover and I can’t see the value in working on animal issues,’” she recalled.
But advocates with the network helped convey the public safety risks associated with dogfighting and the drugs, guns and organized crime that can accompany it.
In 2007, the network helped pass enhancements to the law that increased dog fighting to a felony and the punishment for attending a fight from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor. More legislation passed in 2009 allows law enforcement to classify dog fighting as organized crime and to forfeit property, cash and vehicles associated with fighting.
“We have come so far,” Holloway said.
Challenges ahead
Despite the victories, Holloway and Bobosky said there are still significant reforms needed for animals in the state.
The network’s bill to ban the retail sale of dogs and cats in Texas died in the legislative session this year, but Bobosky said the legislation is critical to eliminate abusive puppy mills that supply stores and to protect consumers from spending thousands of dollars on sick and dying animals.
Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, who sponsored the House version, said the challenge was fighting against powerful business interests, even though pet retail stores are “a pipeline for animal cruelty in our state.”
“We are a very, very business-friendly state, so we take it very seriously when someone wants to regulate a business,” Patterson said, adding, “There are reasons why we don’t allow certain things to happen in our society, and I think this needs to be on the list.”
The network will also continue its efforts to strengthen the law against cockfighting, even though its reform bill died this year. While the act of cockfighting has been illegal for more than a century, the law was hardly effective, and the network helped pass legislation in 2011 that criminalized attending or gambling on fights, possessing paraphernalia with intent for fighting and other offenses.
This year, the network pushed a bill to further increase penalties for cockfighting offenses, but it died in committee. A bill backed by the gamefowl industry to lower penalties on the blood sport also failed, but Bobosky said the work to continue fighting for animals continues.
“Through one law you can effectuate change for thousands of animals in perpetuity,” Bobosky said. “I am hopeful, but we have significant challenges ahead of us.”
©2025 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.