CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — One of the most consistent issues in and around Corpus Christi, and the entire Coastal Bend, is stray dogs and other animals attacking other animals and people.
It's what tonight's Trouble Shooters is about.
A resident of the Misty Winds Mobile Home Park on Ayers called and told us, "there are packs of dogs running around our neighborhood, and they are killing and eating cats. They've killed a duck. They've attacked an elderly woman out here."
This resident asked that his identity not be revealed for fear of retaliation, but he provided us with pictures, he took, of strays on the property.
Park management acknowledged that they're aware of the stray dog problem, and have called Animal Care Services multiple times.
"A large majority of those dogs are owned. Those dogs are owned by people who live at the mobile home park," said Joel Skidmore with Animal Care Services.
The Trouble Shooters wanted to know how many calls his office has received from Misty Winds. He said 17 over the past 30 days.
"Every time you walk out your front door, are you always looking around? Always on alert? There's elderly people out here. There's a lot of young children. There's people that walk their dogs that would get attacked," said the resident.
While driving thru the park, we spotted a few untethered dogs.
Skidmore said a new city ordinance requires all owned dogs be microchipped for identification purposes, or face a citation.
"If we are able to determine ownership of those dogs, the owner of the animal that was attacked , whether it's a cat, whether it's another dog, they're able to come up to ACS and they're able to file an aggressive dog affidavit."
Skidmore further points out that if the animal isn't chipped, officers can pick it up, however, whether or not they can bring it to ACS depends on whether there's room.
He offers 3 tips to follow if you find yourself confronted with a stray vicious animal.
Don't approach it if you know don't know it.
Call ACS and the city's 3-1-1 Emergency number.
And don't run.
Don't trigger the animal's predatory instincts
Skidmore says his officers respond to calls on a priority basis, even though they are short-staffed
He encourages everyone who sees something involving strays, call Animal Care Services.
