. . 

July 17, 1969 

Honorable John C. White 

Commissioner of Agriculture 

P. 0. Drawer BE 

Austin, Texas 78711 

Dear Mr. White: 

Opinion No. M-434 

Re: Whether certain feeding 

demonstrations using white 

rats in which the diet of 

one group of rats is unbalanced constitutes the 

offense of cruelty to 

animals as defined by 

Article 182, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes and whether 

such demonstrations come 

within the purview of 

Articles 4587 and 4588, 

Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

and are experiments requiring compliance with 

said statutes. 

Your have recently requested the opinion of this office as 

to whether certain feeding demonstrations involving white rats 

come within the scope of Articles 182, 4587 and 4588 of Vernon's 

Civil Statutes. You describe these demonstrations in your 

letter as follows: 

"Dairy Council, Inc. furnishes white rats and 

instructions for the conduct of feeding demonstrations in classrooms throughout the State of Texas. 

The purpose of these demonstrations is to impress 

upon school-age youngsters the importance to health 

and growth of a proper and balanced diet and the 

nutritional value of milk. 

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, . 

Honorable John C. White, page 2 (M-434) 

"The demonstrations are primarily of two 

types. In one demonstration, both groups of rats 

are fed a desirable, balanced diet: however, one 

group receives no milk. The other type of demonstration is one in which one group is fed a wellbalanced diet while the other is fed an unbalanced 

diet with excessive starches, fats and sweets. It 

should be emphasized that in all demonstrations, the 

animals receive an adequate amount of food. The 

difference is in the combination of foods. Attached 

to this request as Exhibit 'A' is a booklet published 

by Dairy Council, Inc. which fully explains the 

types of demonstrations conducted." 

You ask our opinion as to: 

1. Whether Article 182 prohibits the above described feeding demonstrations, and 

2. Whether such demonstrations are "experiments" under the 

provisions of Articles 4587 and 4588 for which a Penal bond is 

required. 

Article 182, Vernon's Civil Statutes, reads as follows: 

"It shall be unlawful for any person to overdrive, wilfully overload, drive when overloaded, 

overwork, torture, torment, deprive of necessary 

sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, or 

needlessly mutilate or kill any animal or carry any 

animal in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, in a 

cruel or inhuman manner, or cause or procure the 

same to be done, or who having the charge or custody 

of any animal unnecessarily fails to provide it 

with proper food, drink or curelly abandons it." 

(Emphasis supplied.) 

In connection with your first question, it is observed that 

only unnecessarily failing to provide an animal with proper food 

is prohibited by said statute. 

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. . 

Honorable John C. White, page 3 (M-434) 

We have carefully examined the material accompanying your 

opinion request which you designated as Exhibit "A". Said 

exhibit describes in detail the demonstrations in question and 

the amount of food, etc., to be utilized. However, whether or 

not the white rats are unnecessarily deprived of proper food is 

in our opinion a question cd fact which this office cannot 

determine. 

If it could be shown as a matter of fact that the rats were 

not being unnecessarily deprived of proper food, then it would 

be our opinion that the demonstration in question does not constitute cruelty to animals as provided in Article 182, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes. 

Your second question involves the applicability of Articles 

4587 and 4588 of Vernon's Civil Statutes. Article 4587 gives to 

the Anatomical Board of the State of Texas the "power to authorize 

incorporated schools and colleges to experiment on the lower 

animals under bond." Article 4588 requires the posting of bond 

conditioned that all dead human bodies shall be used, and that 

all experiments on the lower animals shall be conducted,only for 

the promotion of medical science. 

Articles 4587 and 4588 of Vernon's Civil Statutes and 

Article 531 of the Texas Penal Code are codifications of an act 

passed in 1907 by the 30th Legislature of the State of Texas, said 

act being found in Chapter 53, page 117 of the Acts of 1907. It 

is apparent from reading the entire act that the primary concern 

of the Legislature was the traffic and experimentation in dead 

human bodies. Only Sections 5 and 6 of this act, codified as 

Articles 4587 and 4588 of Vernon's Civil Statutes mention "lower 

animals." Article 4587, in referring to the lower animals, merely 

provides that the Anatomical Board has the "power" to authorize 

institutions and individuals to experiment on the lower animals 

under bond. These statutory provisions are not exclusive and the 

approval of the Anatomical Board is not required in all instances. 

We therefore hold that Articles 4587 and 4588 do not require 

the approval of the Anatomical Board or the posting of bond in 

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Honorable John C. White, page 4 (M-434) 

order that demonstrations referred to in your opinion request 

be conducted in the schools of Texas. 

SUMMARY 

Whether demonstrations on white rats in the 

schools of Texas in order to demonstrate the 

effects of malnutrition is prohibited by 

Article 182, V.C.S., is a question of fact. 

Articles 4587 and 4588, V.C.S., are not applicable 

to such demonstrations and the approval of the 

Anatomical Board prior to holding the demonstrations is unnecessary and no bond need be 

secured and posted. 

Prepared by James McCoy 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

George Kelton, Vice-Chairman 

James Quick 

John Banks 

Wardlow Lane 

Neil Williams 

HAWTHORNE PHILLIPS 

Executive Assistant 

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