GROVETON — It’s been a problem for officials at the city and county level: What to do about stray animals.
Sheriff Woody Wallace said it emphatically: “We have a stray dog problem. Not ‘kind of.’ A real one.”
Wallace said that his office is picking up between 30 and 40 dogs a month, and currently there are roughly 30 in our kennels. And while Trinity County Crime Stoppers and a small army of volunteers are running adoption events each month, the dogs keep coming.
“I am getting calls from people whose pets have been attacked,” Wallace said. “People who have been bitten. People who tell me they cannot walk out to their own mailbox because a pack of dogs is in their yard.
“So I am asking — straight up — what do y’all want done?”
Wallace said that cats are as big a problem, and the county has no resources to deal with them.
“The problem is statewide, not just here,” he said. “Rural Texas counties are getting buried in strays. To put Trinity County in perspective, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office took 981 stray dog calls in a 12-month stretch and announced they can only respond to the most critical public safety cases anymore. We are pulling 30 to 40 dogs a month with limited resources, so we are right in the same fight.”
Under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 822, when a county does not have a dedicated animal control office, the Sheriff’s Office serves as the default animal control authority. Wallace said that according to state law, counties and cities can establish an Animal Control Office, but they are not required to.
Additionally, Texas law prohibits breed-specific bans, such as pit bulls; a dangerous dog owner is supposed to register the animal, restrain it, and carry $100,000 in liability insurance — but only after a court determination, which takes time and money.
“Some want every dog rescued no matter the cost. Some say not one penny of tax money should go to this. Some want a county animal control department. Some want stricter laws on owners who dump animals. Some want more spay and neuter help,” Wallace said. “There is no wrong answer here. I just want to hear from you.”
Wallace said there are several options as he sees it, but perhaps someone in the county has a different better answer:
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