In February 2010 the Kaufman County Crime Examiner wrote an article about animal abandonment and the laws concerning it in Texas. (Read the article here.) The crime is still occurring in Kaufman County, as a reader recently pointed out.
Linda Templos and Deb Elkins are neighbors in Kaufman County. They found a mother dog and her six puppies that had been abandoned on the side of the road in the middle of May. Linda Templos said this about the mother and litter of pups, “I feel that people don't care or don't know how to reach out and ask for help if they cannot handle the animals. Fortunately we have raised over $700 to get the dogs shots, wormed and spayed - this could had been prevented from the beginning if who every owned the mother dog had her spayed or could not afford it, reached out for help to get this done. My neighbor and I are out money for food, time spent with the dogs, especially going back and forth to the vet. People don't understand that just because we live in the country doesn't mean we want their dogs…we have our own. These dogs were left to starve, get attacked by coyotes, or ran over by cars - the owner didn't care at all.”
Deb Elkins said, “They were dumped near our homes in the middle of May. The puppies were still nursing. Nothing about this action is excusable or accidental. Since that date, I have seen three more dumped dogs near our homes. One was a young female that had a bull terrier look. She was skittish and disappeared in a few days. One was a female pit which I took in and am now trying to figure what to do next. And the third I saw yesterday. Looked to be a cattle dog mix. We seem to be in a location that draws people who will callously dump a helpless pet. These are planned acts of animal cruelty. People have to consciously get into their cars (or trucks) and drive out to our neighborhood.”
Dumping or abandoning an animal can cost you $4,000.00 in fines and up to one year in the county jail. If you cannot care for your pet, please make the effort to take the animal to a shelter. There are some no kill shelters, including Straydog in Gun Barrel City, Kaufman County.
A follow-up article on what has become of the mother dog and six puppies that were found by Linda and Deb will be published later this week.
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