Donna students working on state bill for animals

DONNA, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Students from Donna North High School are working on a state bill to end the roadside selling of animals.

Kate Montiel, Isabella Arevalo and Karla Ramirez are students fighting against animal cruelty.

The girls are working with city leaders and working on a new state bill that aims to ban the roadside sale of animals.

“In my neighborhood or my road, there are a lot of roadside sales, which are really bad as animals are kept in cages and cases which are way smaller than this and have no water and no bedding and nothing," Arevalo said. "They are given to strangers who impulsive buy and people should stop impulsively buying them as these animals carry diseases.”

Arevalo says the animals typically die days later from those diseases.

The policy has been vetoed before, but the girls' teacher, Amanda Cedillo, hopes this time is different.

“Really hoping that with the kids' voice, it's going to change the perspective of our legislators, and really seeing that it impacts at such a young age, and getting students involved in animal welfare," Cedillo said. "And, so that's the opportunity.”

Cedillo says local leaders like representatives Oscar Longoria and Sergio Munoz, have opened their offices for the students to work.

The girls are currently researching more for their state bill, which will be presented during the 2025 legislative session.

Arevalo hopes more students get involved in their cause and people begin to notice the importance of animal rights.

“It is a big issue and obviously people just shy away from animal abuse or anything to do with animals because people obviously don’t interact with that stuff because there are bigger problems, or think there are bigger problems, but animals are just as a big priority," Arevalo said.