ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - An Albuquerque man says dogs are running wild in his neighborhood and he's fed up.
On Monday, he said those dogs went after his 9-year-old son and he wants the county to do something about it. The county agrees, saying there is a problem, but it can only do so much.
It's a noisy South Valley neighborhood, on Ann Avenue off of Isleta, where most of the dogs are behind a gate or fence.
Lawrence Chavez says a handful, though, run loose.
“We've all called the county, we've all called the owners, nothing changes,” Chavez said of himself and neighbors.
It's a problem Chavez said has been going on for well over a year and got worse Monday.
“A dog ran out of a yard that’s not gated and knocked (my son) down, scratched his back,” Chavez said. “Luckily, my wife was close by and she went out and chased the dog away.”
Bernalillo County Animal Care Services were on the scene shortly after.
“I think there is a loose dog problem in general in that area,” said Matt Pepper, the director for the county's animal control.
“Animals-at-large are a problem,” Pepper said. “You're not being a responsible pet owner to allow your animals to run around.”
He says unless they actually catch a dog on the loose, there isn't much they can do. But if you know where they're coming from, they can write a citation.
“We will hold dog owners responsible for their animals running around,” Pepper said.
Chavez says the street where his son was chased is used by a lot of kids in the neighborhood. There's a school bus stop just a few feet away.
“For a while there, my son was so terrified, I had to walk him to the bus stop and for a while, the dogs didn't come and for some reason they started coming out again,” Chavez said.
And while Chavez doesn't think enough is being done, Animal Care Services says it's something they're working hard to fix.
“Whether it’s a loose dog, an aggressive dog, a nuisance animal or animal cruelty case, we take them all very serious,” Pepper said.
Pepper says the owner of the dogs in Monday's incident was ticketed. He says the dogs weren't taken from their owner because they didn't seriously hurt anyone.
Animal Care Services says it will keep a close eye on that neighborhood. In October, dogs from the same neighborhood were taken due to ongoing problems.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
via http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHvXb_LhpvZ00afzIYOir_qtZ9hfA&url=http://www.krqe.com/news/local/father-irate-with-loose-dog-problem
Show Konversi KodeHide Konversi Kode Show EmoticonHide Emoticon