Dana Boehm v. the State of Texas

Texas Court of Appeals, 3rd District (Austin)·Decided March 6, 2026·No. 03-24-00357-CR·Published

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-24-00357-CR

Dana Boehm, Appellant

v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 5 OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY NO. 21-01658-1, THE HONORABLE WILL WARD, JUDGE PRESIDING

OPINION

Dr. Dana Boehm challenges her misdemeanor conviction for cruelty to a non-

livestock animal. She argues the evidence at trial was insufficient to show that she failed unreasonably to provide necessary care to an animal in her custody. She also argues that the trial court erred in its jury instructions by including the alleged manner and means of prescribing and administering contraindicated medication because (1) an “act” cannot be prosecuted as a failure to provide necessary care as can an “omission” and/or (2) no evidence supported the act. Finally, she argues that the trial court erred in its jury instructions by including the culpable mental state of recklessness. See Tex. Penal Code § 42.092.1 Finding the evidence sufficient and no error in the jury charge, we affirm.

1 The 2017 version controls here. See Act of May 28, 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., ch. 576, § 1, 2017 Tex. Gen. Laws 1563 amended by Act of May 25, 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., ch. 739, § 3, 2017 Tex. Gen. Laws 3157, 3158.

BACKGROUND

Before going on vacation, Osvaldo Silva Jr., arranged for his father-in-law Henry Flores to drop Jax, his Old English Bulldog, off with Jax’s regular veterinarian, Dr. Boehm, for boarding. Dr. Boehm ran the Animal Wellness Hospital (AWH or the clinic) in Taylor. Silva had boarded Jax with Dr. Boehm before, four or five times without incident. Like other bulldogs, Jax had issues with his spine and was bow-legged. Flores dropped Jax at the clinic on March 13, 2021, and planned to pick him up on March 20, 2021. Because of the pandemic, Flores did not himself enter the clinic.

On March 16, Silva contacted the clinic to see how Jax was doing and was told Jax was fine and playing with the other dogs. On March 19, Dr. Boehm texted Silva. The text read “Jax has been different since he arrived.” The text stated Jax needed help getting into the clinic, had a urinary tract infection, urinated as he arrived, and had been grazing but not eating a lot. “Definitely not his normal self.” It concluded, “Have you noticed these changes at home?”

Flores went to pick up Jax on the morning of March 20; Jax was carried out on bed sheets, “like a pack of potatoes,” and had bandages on his hind legs. Jax smelled of urine and appeared drugged. Dr. Boehm told Flores she had given Jax a pill that made him that way, gave Flores a set of pills, and indicated that Jax needed to go to an animal hospital to have his spine checked. Flores and his wife had difficulty getting Jax out of the back seat of their car; they had to carry him using towels as a sling. Jax urinated as he was helped into the house. Once inside, they laid Jax in his bed. Jax was “very limp,” “like a zombie,” and “didn’t raise his head up at all.” Jax never got up out of the bed. When the Silvas came home that evening they removed the bandages and tried to give Jax a bath; he was covered in urine and smelled of urine and feces; they still could not get the urine off him.

Silva took Jax to the Austin Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center (AVES) in Austin that night. Jax arrived with skin irritation, wounds on his hind legs, abrasions on his belly and scrotum, an elevated heart rate and an inability to stand or walk on his hind limbs.

Dr. Lindsay Vaughn, a veterinarian and the owner of AVES, noted that her staff did many things to treat Jax following his admission to the hospital. Staff shaved the fur surrounding his wounds—which she estimated had been there three to seven days—so that they could adequately scrub and clip them; gave him a chlorhexidine bath; bandaged his wounds; placed a urinary catheter; gave him medication; put soft bedding in his kennel; and turned him over every four hours.

Jax’s condition initially improved but then deteriorated further. By March 22, Jax had a new wound on his “hind end,” where the skin was irritated and abraded, and it “opened up with infected material.” At that point, Dr. Vaughn believed Jax had more of a “systemic bacterial infection.” On March 24, the Silvas made the decision to euthanize Jax.

Silva contacted the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, and Detective Rebecca Loegel investigated the case. Detective Loegel looked at March 13 “video footage from the interior of the Silvas’ house and saw that Jax was walking of his own accord and following the family alone, and he didn’t have any noticeable conditions.” And she viewed video that showed Jax immediately after he was picked up from Dr. Boehm’s, where “[h]e had to be carried by two individuals into the house. He was completely not mobile.” Loegel spoke with some of the veterinarians at AVES and obtained a search warrant for AWH. Two months after Jax’s boarding, Loegel searched the property.

The Assistant County Attorney filed an information alleging Class A misdemeanor animal cruelty. The information alleged, in relevant part, that Dr. Boehm had intentionally,

knowingly, and recklessly failed unreasonably to provide necessary care to Jax by: “failing to remove Jax from his waste; failing to care for his wounds; and prescribing and administering medications which are contraindicated, to wit: prednisone and Galliprant[.]”

At a jury trial, the State put on several witnesses including Flores, Silva, Dr. Vaughn, and Detective Loegel. The jury saw video exhibits—footage from the Silvas’ home and AWH—and photographs of Jax’s wounds. Both the State and the Defense put on veterinary experts. The defensive theory was that Dr. Boehm had provided adequate care: she messaged Jax’s family with her concerns about his health; she removed Jax from his waste; she treated Jax’s wounds; and she gave Jax medication. The Defense expert testified that Jax’s issues stemmed from his chronic spinal condition, something the Silvas never sought treatment for. But the crux of the defense was that nobody knew what had happened with Jax because no cultures or samples were tested and no necropsy was done. The Defense also argued that Dr. Vaughn and the State’s expert had confused best practices in veterinary care (“professional care”) for the necessary care described in the statute.

The jury convicted Dr. Boehm of the offense, and the trial court assessed punishment agreed to by the parties at one year in State jail and a $4,000 fine—both probated for 18 months. The trial court also ordered Dr. Boehm to submit to an 18-month voluntary surrender of her veterinary license effective May 15, 2024, for the purpose of shutting down her practice, and that she pay Silva restitution in the amount of $6,040.64.

ANALYSIS

Sufficiency

Dr. Boehm argues that the evidence is insufficient under all means alleged. First, she could not have committed the offense by “prescribing and administering medications which

are contraindicated” because only omissions, not acts, can constitute an offense under section 42.092(b)(3), and/or there was no evidence she prescribed and administered contraindicated medications. Second, she could not have committed the offense by “failing to remove Jax from his waste” or “failing to care for Jax’s wounds” because the offense does not include a reckless state of mind and the evidence is insufficient to show a knowing and/or intentional state of mind.

Standard of Review

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