HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — BARC has responded after an activist called attention to the loose dogs roaming the streets near Tuffly Park in the Fifth Ward.
“With those dogs hanging around, that’s not a good thing,” community activist Jonathan Russell said.
On Wednesday afternoon, an animal control officer rounded up four dogs, but more remain.
“People have been mauled to death by dogs, and we don’t want to take any chances,” Russell said.
Last year, Eyewitness News reported that five people were mauled by dogs in the same area.
One man said he was riding his bike when a pack of dogs attacked, sending him to the hospital for eight days.
After an extensive search, BARC said it never found any of the culprits. Russell said he’s not aware of any attacks since.
“They don’t really bother anybody or anything like that, they just kind of wander around a little bit,” he said.
But just their mere presence can be intimidating to some.
“A lot of people are scared of the animals. They’re walking with their children. They don’t know if the animal is friendly. They don’t know if it’s aggressive or not,” Russell said.
BARC said it’s aware of the problem and urged anyone who sees a loose dog to report it to 311.
Last year, the agency said it was inundated with 51,385 calls for service from across the city and took in 22,345 animals. That’s an increase from 2024, when it took in 20,875 animals.
“We don’t want to take chances. We don’t want to wait until something happens to say, ‘Hey, we have a problem. We have a problem because there’s just too many loose animals,'” Russell said.
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