RUSK COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – East Texas residents are looking to local leaders to find solutions to pet abandonment.
“I'm scared to leave my house because every time I leave the house, a dog is abandoned,” said animal rights activist Nancy Wiley.
Rusk County animal rights activists Wiley and Vanessa Cogswell led a weekly meeting Monday at the county courthouse to discuss pet abandonment and the damage it has done to the community.
“Everyone in the rescue community knows what's going on,” Cogswell said.
Wiley and Cogswell were joined by several advocates who want to find a solution with the help of law enforcement and other agencies.
Cogswell said county officials are aware of the problem.
“One sheriff told all of us that he gets more calls about dogs than anything else,” Cogswell said.
However, there are limits to what you can do.
“They're understaffed,” Cogswell said. “I need to get another job before I get a job in animal control.”
Wiley said it's been a problem in the area for as long as she can remember, but somehow it got worse during the pandemic.
“The people I work with see hundreds of dogs every year,” Wiley said.
While there's no immediate solution, Wiley and Cogswell hope to make spay/neuter programs more affordable.
“I think if we can lower the cost, ultimately more people will go and fix their animals,” Wiley said.
Advocates of both acknowledge that change will not be easy, but it needs to happen.
“We have some challenges ahead of us, but as we talk to the people of Smith County, we've seen great progress and we're using them as kind of a sounding board,” Wiley said. said.
Mr Wylie and Mr Cogswell said they were pleased with the outcome and progress of Monday's meeting. They said this would open avenues of communication for both sides to work together to find solutions to bring about real change in the future.
