Pet Ordinance: Kudos to McAllen

So many homeless animals. What to do?

Obviously, hoarding so many animals, big and small, under one roof isn’t the answer.

In recent months, so many sad hoarding cases have come to light. All told, since only this March, approximately 300 animals, mostly dogs, have been removed from homes in and around the McAllen area.

The people hoarding the dogs, with some cats included, for the most part are well-intentioned people. They often start out by picking up a few strays off the street, then a few more, and then some more, and before they know it, they are overwhelmed and simply don’t know what to do.

In one case, this past June, near Monte Alto, a woman in her mid-80s was mauled to death by two of her 21 dogs.

Another case involved two cousins hoarding approximately 95 dogs inside their McAllen residence, which came to light this past April, and on and on the stories go.

Meanwhile, the animal shelters that care for homeless pets, Palm Valley Animal Shelter on Trenton in McAllen and Cinderella’s Pet Rescue in Penitas, and there are others, are either reaching the breaking point for animal care, or have surpassed it, still working to care for a problem that has no end in sight.

The people who end up hoarding animals become overwhelmed, and in a sad case of irony, are often charged with “animal cruelty” once their houses become the focus of a police investigation. They can’t stand the sight of a homeless dog or cat, take him or her home, feed the animals, but in the end, get charged with a crime, even though the animals in many cases are not being treated cruelly in the traditional sense.

They’re just not being groomed as they should be, sometimes not fed as well as they should be; but at least they’re not walking down the side of busy highway, starving, waiting to get run over by some careless driver texting.

New Ordinance

What is the solution, practically speaking?

In reality, there is none that will totally fix the animal problem.

The RGV has one of the highest rates of non-neutered, non-spayed animals in the U.S. I can’t find a source at the moment, but it’s still a fact. At one time, we were euthanizing almost as many animals here as was New York City, which has approximately 8 times the size of our own population.

Some pet owners won’t spay or neuter their pets because they lack the money, while others won’t do so because they share the false belief that it will somehow harm their animal(s).

Convincing them otherwise is often a case in futility.

That being said, earlier this summer the City of McAllen entertained adopting a new ordinance to address the problem.

At first, the idea was cap the number of animals a resident could have inside his/ her home at four.

Some in the community, city staff, elected officials, including me thought that number was too small.

Which was true. At one time, my wife and I had five dogs living with us, all picked up as strays off the street in need of a home.

Two big dogs lived in the backyard after we built a kennel for them, while the three small ones lived inside, barking orders as soon as they woke up to start a new day .

They’re all gone now, but their memories live on, and our lives were made better as a result of sharing our home with them for approximately two decades.

So, the limit of four didn’t sound quite fair when McAllen first broached the idea. The city took that off the table, did some more brainstorming and finally came up with a new ordinance, which was passed unanimously this Monday, Aug. 12: McAllen residents will now be limited to only eight pets per household, which is a lot better than the original idea of only four.

People who want to have more than eight must apply for a no-cost city permit.

As always, there are the naysayers, who say the new ordinance will do nothing to address the hoarding problem.

Don’t you love these people? They have no real solution to the problem, probably don’t even volunteer at an animal shelter, but they sure are good at griping. In that area, they excel.

No, McAllen’s new ordinance won’t fix the hoarding problem; but you know what? At least it’s a move in the right direction. Every little bit helps when it comes to animal control.

The new ordinance should kick in within approximately six months’ time.

If someone thinks that a house on their block is housing more dogs, cats, then they can call the city, and a city inspector will come out and speak with the homeowner.

In some cases, this may prevent hoarding, and show the resident that there is help at hand, if they’ll only play ball with the city. Don’t wait until they get overwhelmed, arrested, and charged with animal cruelty, because typically the hoarders aren’t bad people. They’re just good people who get overwhelmed, and it happens far quicker than they ever imagined.

To the naysayers, I say, you come up with a better plan. Do something instead of just sitting around griping, throwing darts at ideas that are relatively sound.

Those are the people who drive me crazy. I prefer a dog or a cat any day compared to these mindless critics.

Meanwhile, kudos to the City of McAllen for at least making a step in the right direction. Hopefully, other cities will follow suit.

You know, the RGV is a beautiful place, but when one sees so many homeless dogs and cats walking around neighborhoods, it kind of takes the shine off things.