LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas – We have an update to a story we first brought you Monday night involving packs of dozens of stray dogs that have been terrorizing a neighborhood in the Cleveland-area and other parts of Liberty County for months now.
Tuesday, a dog bite expert and volunteer rescuer says the problem there dates back years, and right now there’s no definite end in sight.
The issue is so bad that KPRC 2 reporter Deven Clarke and photojournalist Matt James almost got attacked Monday.
“It’s a horrible situation,” said volunteer dog rescuer and fosterer Amanda Jordan.
Jordan and others say the issue with packs of vicious stray dogs attacking almost any and everybody, extends far beyond these recent caught on camera incidents.
“There’s hundreds. From like 2022 and 2023 they’ve sky rocketed. People are getting bit,” Jordan said.
She adds that about six months ago, she lost five of her own pet cats to conniving canines.
“They (the cats) never left the yard and there was a pack of dogs that lived down the street and they came like over a two week period, and killed every single one of them, and the cops said there’s nothing they can do about them,” Jordan said.
This after she says she tried to raise the issue last year in commissioners court to county leaders.
“Nothing has changed since then,” she said.
Our first story aired Monday night showing images of serious bite wounds two people who live in the Colony Ridge area of Cleveland suffered on Thanksgiving Day. Since then, three KPRC 2 crews who went to investigate those attacks saw the issue first hand and were also met by aggressive dogs.
“Many residents back in 2022 and 2023 that said ‘my son got bit at a bus stop by a stray dog, or I walk out in the morning and I have to carry mace,” said Texas Humane Legislation Executive Director Shelby Bobosky.
Bobosky says the problem can only be changed if county leaders take action as there is no animal control division in the county.
Now, County Judge Jay H. Knight is vowing to KPRC 2′s Corley Peel he’s working with other county leaders to develop a solution. Meanwhile, Bobosky is encouraging residents to do their part.
“They need to go to their commissioners court and reach out to their commissioners and explain the importance,” she said.
For a list of email addresses to contact Liberty County officials, click here.
if you email them about animal attack concerns feel free to CC Deven Clarke at Dclarke@kprc.com.
