The Texas Legislature has passed and Governor Abbott has signed House Bill 365, which will make important changes to the Texas Farm Animal Liability Act (FALA). All farm animal owners should pay careful attention to the changes coming to the FALA, which will modify the scope of application and will also require additional steps be taken by farm animal owners.

Background

The Texas Farm Animal Liability Act is a statute offering limited liability to farm animal owners if injuries are caused by an inherent risk to a farm animal activity.  For example, when a person rides a horse, there is an inherent risk that person could get bucked off.  Through the FALA, the Texas legislature intended to ensure the horse owner in this example would not be liable for resulting injuries.  The statute was passed in 1995 and was amended in 2011 to expand the scope beyond just equine animals to all “farm animals.”... Click here to read the full article.