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Phil Elliott, wide receiver for the North Dallas Bulls, posts a photograph on Instagram showing his new pet tiger hanging out in his backyard in Preston Hollow.  His post goes viral and becomes a hot news topic.  The next day, PETA claims Elliott’s tiger is illegal and requests the Dallas Police Department seize the tiger.  Can Elliott shake PETA’s attack?

Exotic Animal Regulations Across the Country.

The ability to own exotic pets varies across the country.  At least 14 states ban private individual citizens from owning exotic animals as pets.   Approximately 14 more states have some sort of licensing scheme requiring the owner to register the animal.  Other states have regulations covering the ownership of exotic animals, but do not require registration or may not have enforcement provisions.  This is a great summary of each state’s laws concerning exotic animals.

Texas’ Permit Requirements for Exotic Animals.

Texas prohibits private individuals from owning or having custody of a “dangerous wild animal” – such as a lion, tiger or bear[1] – unless the person has a certificate of registration from either the city or county animal control department, or from the county sheriff if the county does not have an animal control department.  The registration certificate must be renewed annually.  The owner must also have at least $100,000 liability insurance coverage for the animal.  Additionally, the owner must immediately notify the animal control department or the sheriff if the animal escapes or attacks a human.

The failure to register a wild animal is a Class C misdemeanor for each day the animal is not registered.  This means the owner could be punished with a fine of $500 for each day.  Additionally, the city or county where the person keeps the wild animal may sue the owner and recover a civil penalty between $200 and $2,000 per day, plus attorney’s fees.

Tilting the Scales in Your Favor

Pets can be expensive, but exotic pets can be even more expensive if you fail to follow the rules.  So before you buy the cute capuchin monkey for your kids or significant other, make sure you take care of the paperwork to avoid any potential legal trouble.

[1] The Texas statute contains a defined, exclusive list of “dangerous wild animals.”

Tiger cubDriving through Oklahoma recently and watching Tiger King of late, Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux was intrigued that they are apparently 5,000 to 15,000 tigers in the United States and only 3,500 in the “wild.” Hearing that an 8-12 week old cub offered for “cub petting” in a roadside petting “zoo” could pay back over $1 million, Big Daddy decided that his Big Bux Ranch was big enough to add a roadside business and raise pet tigers. Does the State of Texas permit Big Daddy to keep pet tigers? Does Big Daddy have any liability for keeping them? Continue Reading Tiger King 2.0: Is a Texas Roadside Zoo Permissible?

magnificent 21 point red deer stag rated at 430 SCI, West Coast, South Island, New ZealandReleasing an image of a pickup truck closely resembling I.M. Steelin’s, Texas Parks and Wildlife investigators believe a red stag deer was shot by I.M. Steelin over the Thanksgiving weekend. The exotic, tame, breeding, red deer bull “Rudolph” was found decapitated on Bragg Schtag’s sprawling Red Bull Ranch – a large hunting ranch with a high-fence on a remote road in northwest Burnet County. Facing a string of charges, including a potential third-degree felony for poaching, can I.M. Steelin really be jailed for poaching from a county road? Can Schtag sue Steelin for damages? Continue Reading Poaching Santa’s Reindeer – What’s the Penalty for Poaching Your Neighbor’s Red Stag?

Having started as a bookkeeper and worked his way (fifteen years later) to become controller of the Bunz in the Oven family owned business, Swendoll Hugh felt underpaid andbusinessman hiding envelope with money in pocket at jacket under-appreciated by Bertha Bunz and her highly successful business. When Swendoll’s grandmother passed away, he “borrowed” funds from Bunz in the Oven to cover funeral expenses. Easily repaying the money without detection, Swendoll “borrowed” again and again, and eventually quit repaying the “loans” amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. What’s the crime? How could that have happened? What might Bertha and Bunz in the Oven have done to discover Swendoll Hugh’s embezzlement earlier?

It’s a crime to steal all or part of the money or property entrusted to you for management or monitoring. Beyond merely stealing, embezzlement is also a violation of a special position of trust. For embezzlement of money or property valued over $200,000, Texas penalties include a fine of up to $10,000, at least five (and up to 99) years in prison, or both.

Be Vigilant.

Embezzlement often occurs when there is a lack of accounting controls. For smaller companies with minimum gross revenues, missing money is more obvious and the cost to implement necessary controls may be cost prohibitive. Yet, as the company and its gross revenues grow, so must accounting controls.

Embezzlement can be as simple as issuing and then voiding a check to a customary vendor at a time when the expense is expected, and then issuing a check for an identical amount to cover personal expenses. According to news accounts, that’s exactly what the controller of Collin Street Bakery did on his way to stealing nearly $17 million from the landmark Corsicana business.

Look for These 4 Warning Signs.

Beyond making prudent accounting changes to match your business success—and avoiding placing trusted employees into a predicament tempting their violation of company trust—these warning signs should alert you to be more vigilant:

  1. Significant Lifestyle Changes. Just like the Collin Street Bakery controller who spent millions on watches, cars and vacation homes, that were noticed and ignored for years, unexplained upgrades in automobiles, exotic vacations and expensive apparel merit close attention and perhaps investigation.
  2. Financial Difficulties. Employees with constant financial troubles have a greater incentive to steal and can generally rationalize almost any behavior when faced with enough pressure from friends, family and creditors. Often not intending to commit fraud, many act out of desperation.
  3. Never Wants to Take a Vacation. Certain types of fraud have to be monitored to maintain and remain undetected. The perpetrator will be unwilling to take a vacation and risk detection.
  4. Constantly Works Overtime and Wants to Take Work Home. Embezzlers often avoid the watchful eyes of co-workers. They need privacy and might work late or take work home to eliminate unannounced visits from fellow employees when dealing with incriminating evidence.

Tilting the Scales in Your Favor.

Trust but verify. Be vigilant. And, be careful. Your self-indulging employee may have won the lottery or inherited from a rich uncle. It might be prudent to offer aid to an employee with a sudden death in the family. Cross-train employees so that trusted, dedicated employees can confidently go on vacation knowing that a competent co-worker is filling in. Consider re-arranging the workloads of those constantly working overtime to improve their work-life balance.  Explore the value of both a periodic financial audit by your outside accounting company and their examination of your appropriate financial safeguards.

Ray Kroc, a resident of a rural town in Texas, awoke one morning to find several head of cattle grazing in his backyard.  Kroc does not have any idea who the owner might be and the cattle are untagged, unbranded and have no other identifying marks.  Kroc is hopeful that Texas has some type of “finders keepers” statute and fences the cattle in so that he may “use” them for a business that he recently started.  If they remain unclaimed, can Kroc keep the cattle and use them to supersize his business?

No, there is no “finders keepers” when it comes to another Texan’s livestock.  The notion of wandering cattle, horses or other livestock (known as “estray” in the law) is unfamiliar to most city folk but not uncommon to those inhabiting more rural areas.  Unfortunately for Kroc, he is going to have to turn the cattle over.  If he fails to do so, the Texas  and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association notes that he can be charged with “Theft of Livestock” (a cattle rustler, I suppose). In Texas, Kroc is obligated to report the ”stray” to the county sheriff as soon as reasonably possible.  The sheriff will then notify the owner or, if the owner is unknown, impound the cattle.  If the owner still cannot be located after certain efforts have been undertaken, the cattle may be sold (with funds going to the county), donated to a nonprofit organization or retained for county purposes.  While Kroc cannot keep the cattle, Texas law does provide that he shall be reimbursed, a reasonable amount, for any “maintenance and damages.” Check out the list of animals (including a red Beefmaster bull, 4 Longhorns, a sorrel and white paint gelding and a Jack Donkey) impounded by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Wichita County Sheriff Lt. Cecil Yoder said his department spends several hours every week chasing down loose livestock that have escaped through broken fences. In an attempt to be neighborly, officers used to lead the lost animals back onto the owner’s property. But now, Yoder says the cows will be impounded.

Tilting the Scales in Your Favor. Do you know someone who owns “exotic livestock” or “exotic fowl”? These are any mammals or animals, respectively, which are not indigenous to the State of Texas, including animals from the deer and antelope families and game birds not indigenous to Texas. Unlike loose livestock, a Texan can only claim to be the owner of exotic livestock or exotic fowl if the animal is “tagged, branded, banded, or marked in another conspicuous manner that can be read or identified from a long distance and that identifies the animal as being the property of the claimant.” Otherwise, it appears that exotic livestock or exotic fowl that are loose are “fair game!”