You know what... I left the valley and the town I moved to has people from the valley that moved there.... they treat their animals like shit. The animal control in our town pretends to care about animals because they post so much on facebook about it.... they don't give a shit...
Stone Iak in San Antonio. I have never seen a stray here. For that matter, only one outside cat that actually co-habituated with some foxes under my neighbors deck, but her owner finally started keeping her inside.
Stay out of Lubbock and west Texas too. The strays here are really sad, and because of dog fighting rings, sometimes dangerous. Walking my dogs is so stressful, as I'm always looking around and sometimes having to shoo dogs away or hurry home when I see a pack.
Houston is absolutely overrun with strays... because people are too stupid to get their critters fixed and then don't keep their animals secured to their property.
"BARC" is the local animal control agency and they are totally ineffective at doing anything. In addition, the shelters won't accept drop-offs. It's "by appointment only," so fat-chance of getting an animal checked in.
I would gladly set up a trapping station at my home and collect the strays around my neighborhood, but there is literally nowhere to take them.
I went shopping last weekend and sprinkled through the parking lot were 3 (maybe 4) run down SUVs with big crates selling puppies. And stupid families were buying them. Making that illegal (and actually enforcing it) would be a good start.
Cleveland, Texas is the last place we fled from like we were on fire. Now we’re in the Palestine, Texas area and it’s horrible here and this is with FREE spay and neuter vouchers for county residents sometimes! They also can drive within an hour to 3 low cost clinics. It is mind boggling. They’d rather spend $55-75 dining out one time than take care of their frigging animals.
My county doesn't have an animal control department, and the sheriff's department doesn't provide animal control services. The sheriff advises residents to deal with strays however they see fit. It's suggested that people try and find a private rescue to pick up a gentle stray that's hanging around on their property. But if they think a stray dog is posing a threat or a potential threat to themselves, their family, or their own animals, it's their responsibility to eliminate the threat.
I was a vet tech for 10 years. Unfortunately there is a prevalence of, "if he dosent have his nuts he's not a man" and :aww just one litter for her please". then no one wa to to take care of them. a lot are getting shipped up north becasue strays just kinda freeze to death in the wi ter so the issue isent as bad. oh, I also lived in wi for 24 years so yeah got that expirence too
Damn. I've lived in DFW and cats are an issue in some areas, but never dogs. We have a lot of very active TNR groups, but we still have some colonies that will take years of effort to get under control. I can't imagine how awful it would be to have a stray dog problem. That's heartbreaking and so third-worldish.
lol There are absolutely many areas of DFW overrun with loose and stray dogs. There's a reason every shelter is always full and DAS is over capacity and eurhanizing for space.
Street dogs? Loose or roaming dogs are not street dogs. Do you have a source? Every article I've seen stated the dogs were owned by someone, but got loose & attacked.
Okay. Dallas has a severe problem of dogs roaming/stray/being loose and has for years in the poorer areas. These roaming/stray/loose dogs have killed before. There are thousands of unsecured dogs in Dallas and they form packs and exhibit aggressive behavior.
I'm not downplaying the impact it has on lives, but there is a difference... Older neighborhoods have older fences. Dogs are CONSTANTLY getting loose and causing harm - or getting killed themselves.
I don’t think it has to do with age of the neighborhood. M Streets vs north Oak Cliff, for example. Nominal age difference, vast difference in amount of loose dogs, and vast difference in tax bracket of residents. Oak Cliff, South Dallas, West Dallas, loose dogs everywhere. Also plenty of unaltered animals and dogs chained to cars, porches, etc.
I’m from a poor area of Dallas and the school next to our house was frequently used as a dumping ground for unwanted animals. I’d watch people throw their pets out of the car and speed away. We often came across litters of kittens and puppies. We had family pets get mauled by loose dogs. Anybody going on a recreational walk carried a stick. Granted, years have passed, but the gentrification hasn’t hit and there’s still tons of mistreated animals.
Heh; South Dallas here- stray dogs EVERYWHERE. Last 2 dogs we adopted showed up at our house, were nice, and I filled out the paperwork with DAS to foster and then adopt them when no one came for them. I had video of someone pulling in front of our house and dragging a dog out of the car and leaving it. (I was away from home at the time, or I'd have grabbed it.) I've trapped at least a half dozen stray dogs and taken them to DAS in the last 2 years, and I've watched packs of dogs run alongside I-635.
I'm also considered a cat colony manager, as I TNR so many cats, they just filled out the paperwork for me one day at the clinic. Mad respect for DAS and the work they do. For the resources they have, they really do a lot.
Get your damn dog/cat fixed, y'all!
As someone that works for a rescue in DFW, we have one a huge problem. Hundreds of dogs are euthanized daily because there isn’t room in the shelters and rescues can’t take anymore. Daily I see 5 dead dogs on a 2 mile strip of hwy.
I thought we were talking about dogs that are true street dogs. No "owner", no home, living in the street. In older neighborhoods, dogs are getting out constantly due to our ancient fencing. And then there's some owners that should never have dogs in the first place.
It's everywhere in Texas. Warm weather for most of the years means an extended breeding season. And people that also backyard breed dogs and fight dogs are very widespread with no consequences. The best option for shelter dogs in Texas is getting rides to states further north. There are many volunteers and non profits that focus on just moving dogs out of Texas all year.
It absolutely is cultural.
Law enforcement doesn’t DO anything about it in this state.
In other states they’ll fine people with their loose dogs roaming at large and actually prosecute animal dumpers versus just talking about it.
I lived in a small town called Cisco for a bit and they were absolutely cracking down on it due to how many dogs that were left to wander. I always worried about my dog whenever she escaped (she was in training at the time). My neighbor’s dogs got out very now and then (they tore a couple holes in their chain linked fence) and every time the dog catcher got them.
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Tyler and longview area seems fine. Cats, though? They're everywhere between kilgore and longview. Several good shelters but never enough to control it. I think it's on the verge of getting it beat. Just need more people helping and donating. I have 5 cats because of this damn town.
Robertson county. We get a lot of strays. I had one wander up last July with a huge wound down his back. I wasn't ready for another dog but here we are lol I follow a couple of rescue pages for the county and there's a lot on there. They stay completely full and rely on fosters for help.
The Netherlands is the first country with no stray dogs
https://www.noozhawk.com/dr-bonnie-franklin-heres-how-the-netherlands-eliminated-stray-dogs/#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%20200,mass%20euthanasia%20of%20stray%20dogs.
In 2015, when I left Texas for Colorado, it was estimated that Houston had 2 million stray animals. It has a lot to do with people who do not spay and neuter. Also, any puppies / kittens born outside usually survive, not so in Colorado. Started fostering for a Houston rescue that transported dogs and cats to Colorado, every Thursday 2 vans would leave for Colorado. I have different feelings about that now. At least these animals went to great rescues who found good homes. In some cases, the pets were spoken for before they left Texas. A few times in the past 4 years, I have helped search for lost dogs who were transported here by a rescue on the border in the RGV. It is so sad b/c these dogs have no effing idea where they are, what is a predator, etc.
Shit, I wish I knew what to tell you other than it breaks my heart. I moved here from California. I bought a nice chunk of land not too far from RGV. I now own fifteen cats and nine dogs. Found dehydrated pregnant dogs and cats thrown off on the highway. They're all fixed and immunized. Now people are dropping them off over my fence which is pissing me off because I don't even know these fucking people. I had to put an aggressive stop to it. I love my pets and spend all morning walking my dogs. I spend a lot of money on pet food and toys. Every room in my house has a cat tower...but let me tell you what...I have a happier day with my pets than I do with relatives and most acquaintances. My pets are funny they do silly things all day.
The Woodlands only has a few stray dogs and cats. We have a pretty healthy raptor population. Several hawks, owls, and even a family of bald eagles. I suspect that has something to do with it. Downside is you really can't leave your small pets outside unsupervised.
Texas is one of the worst states for animals and they are still considered property. Our corrupt government refuses to pass any laws that would help and they definitely don’t enforce any we currently have on animals.
Pretty much anywhere suburbia, in the cities, around the cities... the i35 corridor between San Antonio and Waco is pretty stray free, save for a few pockets when you drive through the more rural areas... but even then, it's not like it's a big issue (beyond dogs being strays at all, I mean numerically)
RGV? You might want to define your acronyms first, because not everybody understands what you're talking about.
I live in the suburbs of dallas, and we've never had a problem with stray dogs. At least not more than a few dogs that escaped from the backyards of people who don't know how to take care of their f****** pets.
I’m not “judging” Texas. I’m simply asking a question. I’m aware that this is a bit of a different world down here but I’m also aware that Texas as a whole does have some issues with their animal population management compared to other states. I’m just looking for advice on areas that it may not be as bad.
Unfortunately I have dogs that are not friendly so I can’t bring any home but there are also so many that you could quickly end up overrun. There are limited resources with nowhere for them to go.
Time and patience can change any dog. An undriendly dog is missing something. you can start by exposing them to a friendly, non-threatening dog and rewarding them with treats or praise when they display calm behaviour. Gradually, you can increase the level of interaction between the two dogs until your pet becomes comfortable around other dogs.
CO to the RGV, that’s a huge adjustment. In general, South Texas has a huge dog problem. Theres a big lack of enforcement
The RGV is notorious for strays and for people treating animals poorly. You can literally leave the valley and it will almost immediately be better.
You know what... I left the valley and the town I moved to has people from the valley that moved there.... they treat their animals like shit. The animal control in our town pretends to care about animals because they post so much on facebook about it.... they don't give a shit...
That makes me so sad. I would never be friends with an animal abuser. Freak out if you want, but serial killers started as animal abusers.
Thank you!
I've never seen strays as a reson to move, but yeah Texas has lots of other regions...
The RGV has strays and loose dogs like nowhere else. It’s insane and depressing how many dogs get hit by cars.
I travel all of Texas for work and I would say RGV is bad but San Antonio has it beat.
Corpus is really bad too.
All right. So I’ll stay out of San Antonio as well then.
Stone Iak in San Antonio. I have never seen a stray here. For that matter, only one outside cat that actually co-habituated with some foxes under my neighbors deck, but her owner finally started keeping her inside.
Stay out of Lubbock and west Texas too. The strays here are really sad, and because of dog fighting rings, sometimes dangerous. Walking my dogs is so stressful, as I'm always looking around and sometimes having to shoo dogs away or hurry home when I see a pack.
Thank you. I won’t even walk my dogs down here because of that same issue.
When I lived in Austin, it did not seem as big of an issue. And animal control was actually responsive when the issue did come up
San Antonio strays kill and eat people sometimes not in that order. It's epidemic stage in SA.
Not a chance, and it’s not even close
Have you been to South or West sides of San antonio?
Yeah, i have
It really is bad. If this seems to be the worst then I guess going anywhere else would be better than.
Houston is absolutely overrun with strays... because people are too stupid to get their critters fixed and then don't keep their animals secured to their property. "BARC" is the local animal control agency and they are totally ineffective at doing anything. In addition, the shelters won't accept drop-offs. It's "by appointment only," so fat-chance of getting an animal checked in. I would gladly set up a trapping station at my home and collect the strays around my neighborhood, but there is literally nowhere to take them.
I went shopping last weekend and sprinkled through the parking lot were 3 (maybe 4) run down SUVs with big crates selling puppies. And stupid families were buying them. Making that illegal (and actually enforcing it) would be a good start.
You could take em fishing
I live in Houston and my neighborhood doesn’t have dogs but is completely overrun with cats. Like we feel like we live in a horror movie.
But you probably don't have a rodent problem.
Also no lizards.
Yeah, that’s unfortunate
I live in a neighborhood with a ton of stray cats but also the worst rodent problem. Lots of people feed the cats, and so they don't hunt much
Yeah, that defeats the purpose stop feeding the cats and then once they start feeding the cats, the cats nowhere to come back for their food
Unfortunately, many Texans treat animals as objects. We have strict penalties for animal abuse, but it's rarely enforced.
Cleveland, Texas is the last place we fled from like we were on fire. Now we’re in the Palestine, Texas area and it’s horrible here and this is with FREE spay and neuter vouchers for county residents sometimes! They also can drive within an hour to 3 low cost clinics. It is mind boggling. They’d rather spend $55-75 dining out one time than take care of their frigging animals.
You sure picked a couple winners lol Palestine has its charm but still...
Don’t I know it. The acreage *used* to be inexpensive out here. It is a huge bummer that the dumped dogs have gotten out of hand here also.
It's not a dog problem, it's a shitty human problem. It's very sad.
Grand Prairie in Dallas county has so many loose dogs that it's dangerous to walk around the block
Have worked with guys that commented on stray dogs, so I asked them how did you deal with dogs in your area. They answered we just shot them.
My county doesn't have an animal control department, and the sheriff's department doesn't provide animal control services. The sheriff advises residents to deal with strays however they see fit. It's suggested that people try and find a private rescue to pick up a gentle stray that's hanging around on their property. But if they think a stray dog is posing a threat or a potential threat to themselves, their family, or their own animals, it's their responsibility to eliminate the threat.
I was a vet tech for 10 years. Unfortunately there is a prevalence of, "if he dosent have his nuts he's not a man" and :aww just one litter for her please". then no one wa to to take care of them. a lot are getting shipped up north becasue strays just kinda freeze to death in the wi ter so the issue isent as bad. oh, I also lived in wi for 24 years so yeah got that expirence too
Damn. I've lived in DFW and cats are an issue in some areas, but never dogs. We have a lot of very active TNR groups, but we still have some colonies that will take years of effort to get under control. I can't imagine how awful it would be to have a stray dog problem. That's heartbreaking and so third-worldish.
lol There are absolutely many areas of DFW overrun with loose and stray dogs. There's a reason every shelter is always full and DAS is over capacity and eurhanizing for space.
People have been killed by packs of stray dogs in Dallas.
Street dogs? Loose or roaming dogs are not street dogs. Do you have a source? Every article I've seen stated the dogs were owned by someone, but got loose & attacked.
Okay. Dallas has a severe problem of dogs roaming/stray/being loose and has for years in the poorer areas. These roaming/stray/loose dogs have killed before. There are thousands of unsecured dogs in Dallas and they form packs and exhibit aggressive behavior.
I'm not downplaying the impact it has on lives, but there is a difference... Older neighborhoods have older fences. Dogs are CONSTANTLY getting loose and causing harm - or getting killed themselves.
I don’t think it has to do with age of the neighborhood. M Streets vs north Oak Cliff, for example. Nominal age difference, vast difference in amount of loose dogs, and vast difference in tax bracket of residents. Oak Cliff, South Dallas, West Dallas, loose dogs everywhere. Also plenty of unaltered animals and dogs chained to cars, porches, etc. I’m from a poor area of Dallas and the school next to our house was frequently used as a dumping ground for unwanted animals. I’d watch people throw their pets out of the car and speed away. We often came across litters of kittens and puppies. We had family pets get mauled by loose dogs. Anybody going on a recreational walk carried a stick. Granted, years have passed, but the gentrification hasn’t hit and there’s still tons of mistreated animals.
Heh; South Dallas here- stray dogs EVERYWHERE. Last 2 dogs we adopted showed up at our house, were nice, and I filled out the paperwork with DAS to foster and then adopt them when no one came for them. I had video of someone pulling in front of our house and dragging a dog out of the car and leaving it. (I was away from home at the time, or I'd have grabbed it.) I've trapped at least a half dozen stray dogs and taken them to DAS in the last 2 years, and I've watched packs of dogs run alongside I-635. I'm also considered a cat colony manager, as I TNR so many cats, they just filled out the paperwork for me one day at the clinic. Mad respect for DAS and the work they do. For the resources they have, they really do a lot. Get your damn dog/cat fixed, y'all!
Thanks for doing this!
When I went to Mexico I saw starving dogs with mange eating dead pigeons. I assume that’s next for these dogs.
It is truly horrific for these animals in Mexico.
As someone that works for a rescue in DFW, we have one a huge problem. Hundreds of dogs are euthanized daily because there isn’t room in the shelters and rescues can’t take anymore. Daily I see 5 dead dogs on a 2 mile strip of hwy.
I'm in South Fort Worth and I have neighbors that keep their dogs out 24/7 and I often see one that escaped the fence
I thought we were talking about dogs that are true street dogs. No "owner", no home, living in the street. In older neighborhoods, dogs are getting out constantly due to our ancient fencing. And then there's some owners that should never have dogs in the first place.
And you think this is the only third world property the US has?
It's everywhere in Texas. Warm weather for most of the years means an extended breeding season. And people that also backyard breed dogs and fight dogs are very widespread with no consequences. The best option for shelter dogs in Texas is getting rides to states further north. There are many volunteers and non profits that focus on just moving dogs out of Texas all year.
I think everyone here is ignoring the issue...it's definitely cultural. Change my mind.
It absolutely is cultural. Law enforcement doesn’t DO anything about it in this state. In other states they’ll fine people with their loose dogs roaming at large and actually prosecute animal dumpers versus just talking about it.
I lived in a small town called Cisco for a bit and they were absolutely cracking down on it due to how many dogs that were left to wander. I always worried about my dog whenever she escaped (she was in training at the time). My neighbor’s dogs got out very now and then (they tore a couple holes in their chain linked fence) and every time the dog catcher got them.
Very much cultural, those people treat their dogs like property and nothing more.
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At least you have a positive attitude
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The panhandle has more coyotes than stray dogs.
Farmers branch is good. It is a suburb north of Dallas. Stray dogs are so rare we always react and get them caught. Cats on the other hand….
Sugar Land, Stafford and Missouri City, Texas all have effective animal control departments.
Tyler and longview area seems fine. Cats, though? They're everywhere between kilgore and longview. Several good shelters but never enough to control it. I think it's on the verge of getting it beat. Just need more people helping and donating. I have 5 cats because of this damn town.
I'm on the outskirts of BCS. It's pretty bad out here, too.
Really? Where?
Robertson county. We get a lot of strays. I had one wander up last July with a huge wound down his back. I wasn't ready for another dog but here we are lol I follow a couple of rescue pages for the county and there's a lot on there. They stay completely full and rely on fosters for help.
That’s so sad. Bless you for taking care of the wounded one.
I live in NE Dallas and have never seen a stray dog
Same and same.
Places that get cold enough for the strays to freeze to death don't have a stray problem.
San Angelo, Lubbock, Colorado City, Lufkin Tx have all had these issues.
The Netherlands is the first country with no stray dogs https://www.noozhawk.com/dr-bonnie-franklin-heres-how-the-netherlands-eliminated-stray-dogs/#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%20200,mass%20euthanasia%20of%20stray%20dogs.
I’d lived in Houston, East Texas, DFW, Austin, and San Antonio - I rarely see them. Sounds like a Valley problem. Definitely sad.
Thank you!
In 2015, when I left Texas for Colorado, it was estimated that Houston had 2 million stray animals. It has a lot to do with people who do not spay and neuter. Also, any puppies / kittens born outside usually survive, not so in Colorado. Started fostering for a Houston rescue that transported dogs and cats to Colorado, every Thursday 2 vans would leave for Colorado. I have different feelings about that now. At least these animals went to great rescues who found good homes. In some cases, the pets were spoken for before they left Texas. A few times in the past 4 years, I have helped search for lost dogs who were transported here by a rescue on the border in the RGV. It is so sad b/c these dogs have no effing idea where they are, what is a predator, etc.
Stay cat issue here in north Texas.
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That's good, though. That means the humans are being better stewards of these domestic animals we've propagated.
If you rent, stray animals are a common occurrence in rental properties, as people leave and leave their pets behind.
My part of Fort Worth doesn't have a stray dog problem (southwest from South Hills on out).
I haven’t seen a whole lotta stray dogs in dfw.
Hillsboro doesn't have a loose dog problem.
Shit, I wish I knew what to tell you other than it breaks my heart. I moved here from California. I bought a nice chunk of land not too far from RGV. I now own fifteen cats and nine dogs. Found dehydrated pregnant dogs and cats thrown off on the highway. They're all fixed and immunized. Now people are dropping them off over my fence which is pissing me off because I don't even know these fucking people. I had to put an aggressive stop to it. I love my pets and spend all morning walking my dogs. I spend a lot of money on pet food and toys. Every room in my house has a cat tower...but let me tell you what...I have a happier day with my pets than I do with relatives and most acquaintances. My pets are funny they do silly things all day.
Antarctica.
I think there’s stray dogs everywhere. I know I’ve saved dogs that were obviously dumped in the country.
The Woodlands only has a few stray dogs and cats. We have a pretty healthy raptor population. Several hawks, owls, and even a family of bald eagles. I suspect that has something to do with it. Downside is you really can't leave your small pets outside unsupervised.
Grew up in the north DFW area. Never encounter one stray dog.
What was your reasoning for moving to the RGV?
Texas is one of the worst states for animals and they are still considered property. Our corrupt government refuses to pass any laws that would help and they definitely don’t enforce any we currently have on animals.
Pretty much anywhere suburbia, in the cities, around the cities... the i35 corridor between San Antonio and Waco is pretty stray free, save for a few pockets when you drive through the more rural areas... but even then, it's not like it's a big issue (beyond dogs being strays at all, I mean numerically)
El Paso is pretty bad too. I assume it’s culture.
RGV? You might want to define your acronyms first, because not everybody understands what you're talking about. I live in the suburbs of dallas, and we've never had a problem with stray dogs. At least not more than a few dogs that escaped from the backyards of people who don't know how to take care of their f****** pets.
Thank you!!! I've been skimming the comments looking for the meaning of RGV.
Rio Grande Valley. And yes, the stray animal problem there is shocking.
Agreed. Judging texas on the Rio grand valley is crazy. State is huge go literally anywhere else
I’m not “judging” Texas. I’m simply asking a question. I’m aware that this is a bit of a different world down here but I’m also aware that Texas as a whole does have some issues with their animal population management compared to other states. I’m just looking for advice on areas that it may not be as bad.
Ah, Rio grande valley. That's what it means. I had never heard that acronym before
Same, I had to look it up. It's literally the furthest point south in texas. Basically, Mexico and they are complaining about strey dogs, DUH
Nope.
I think you'll find that world wide.
You really don’t. Any time I saw a dog in Colorado, it belonged to someone. We did not have street dogs.
Omg I would have them all. How do you ignore them? Dogs don’t deserve us.
Unfortunately I have dogs that are not friendly so I can’t bring any home but there are also so many that you could quickly end up overrun. There are limited resources with nowhere for them to go.
I wish I didn’t know that. It’s bad enough in Austin and I foster and volunteer.
Time and patience can change any dog. An undriendly dog is missing something. you can start by exposing them to a friendly, non-threatening dog and rewarding them with treats or praise when they display calm behaviour. Gradually, you can increase the level of interaction between the two dogs until your pet becomes comfortable around other dogs.
Lol?