By BJ Austin, KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – A Texas House committee has approved a bill that would require commercial cat and dog breeders to register with the state and apply for a license.
The measure by Democratic state Rep. Senfronia Thompson would require commercial breeders to register with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The department would be responsible for licensing and inspecting commercial breeding facilities. Hobby breeders are excluded from regulation.
The proposed law is designed to crack down on so-called puppy mills that breed animals in poor or unsafe conditions. Texas currently does not regulate dog and cat breeders. The department of licensing would collect a fee to cover the costs of enforcing the new rules.
Rep. Thompson's bill will now go before the full House for a vote.
Weekend Detour On Busy 360 In Arlington
Traffic on Highway 360 in Arlington will be disrupted all weekend. The busy highway will be closed, both directions, at Division for reconstruction of the railroad bridge over 360.
The construction is part of a 56 million dollar "re-do". It includes new bridges as well as improved ramp access at Division, and continuous frontage roads.
Work is to be completed in the summer of 2012.
The closure runs from 8pm tonight until 5am Monday morning.
Cuban ex-CIA agent acquitted in Texas perjury case
A Texas jury has found an elderly ex-CIA agent from Cuba not guilty of all 11 counts of perjury, obstruction and immigration fraud. After a 13-week trial, jurors deliberated for just three hours before agreeing Friday to acquit 83-year-old Luis Posada Carriles.
Posada was born in Cuba and spent decades working to destabilize Latin American communist governments. He often had Washington's support.
But he sneaked into the U.S. in 2005 and was charged with lying during citizenship hearings in El Paso about how he reached U.S. soil, and about allegedly masterminding deadly 1997 bombings in Cuba.
Posada is depicted on billboards as Public Enemy No. 1 in his homeland and is considered elderly ex-President Fidel Castro's nemesis. He had been living in Miami before his trial began.